Efficient mac ce indication of spatial relation for semi-persistent srs

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for Semi-Persistent Sounding Reference Signal (SP SRS) resource activation or deactivation are disclosed. In some embodiments, a method of operation of a wireless device in a cellular communications network comprises receiving, from a network node, a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE). The MAC CE comprises an indication of a SP SRS resource set to be activated or deactivated and information that indicates a spatial relation for the SP SRS resource set to be activated or deactivated. In this manner, a MAC CE for SP SRS resource set activation or deactivation is provided in a manner that gives spatial relation information in an efficient and flexible manner.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of International ApplicationNo. PCT/IB2019/050639, filed Jan. 25, 2019, which claims priority toProvisional Application No. 62/631,243 filed Feb. 15, 2018, thedisclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference in theirentireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a wireless communication system and,more specifically, to Sounding Reference Signals (SRSs) in a wirelesscommunication system.

BACKGROUND

It is expected that large parts of future New Radio (NR) networks willbe deployed for Time Division Duplexing (TDD). One benefit with TDD, ascompared to Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD), is that TDD enablesreciprocity based beamforming, which can be applied both at theTransmit-Receive Point (TRP) (i.e., for downlink) and the User Equipmentdevice (UE) (i.e., for uplink). For reciprocity based downlinktransmission, it is expected that the UE will transmit SoundingReference Signals (SRSs), which the TRP will use to estimate the channelbetween the TRP and the UE. The channel estimate will then be used atthe TRP to find optimal precoding weights for the coming downlinktransmission, for example by using Eigen-beamforming. In a similar way,it is expected that Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS)will be used as sounding signal for reciprocity based uplinktransmissions. It has been agreed in NR that a TRP can indicate aspatial relation assumption to an earlier transmitted downlink referencesignal (e.g., CSI-RS and Synchronization Signal Block (SSB)), as well asfrom an SRS that a UE may use when determining uplink precoding of anSRS resource.

Codebook-Based Uplink Transmission

Multi-antenna techniques can significantly increase the data rates andreliability of a wireless communication system. The performance is inparticular improved if both the transmitter and the receiver areequipped with multiple antennas, which results in a Multiple InputMultiple Output (MIMO) communication channel. Such systems and/orrelated techniques are commonly referred to as MIMO.

The NR standard is currently being specified. A core component in NR isthe support of MIMO antenna deployments and MIMO related techniques. Itis expected that NR will support uplink MIMO with at least four layerspatial multiplexing using at least four antenna ports with channeldependent precoding. The spatial multiplexing mode is aimed for highdata rates in favorable channel conditions. An illustration of thespatial multiplexing operation is provided in FIG. 1 for where CyclicPrefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (CP-OFDM) is used onthe uplink.

As seen, the information carrying symbol vector s is multiplied by anN_(T)×r precoder matrix W, which serves to distribute the transmitenergy in a subspace of the N_(T) (corresponding to N_(T) antenna ports)dimensional vector space. The precoder matrix is typically selected froma codebook of possible precoder matrices, and is typically indicated bymeans of a Transmit Precoder Matrix Indicator (TPMI), which specifies aunique precoder matrix in the codebook for a given number of symbolstreams. The r symbols in s each correspond to a layer, and r isreferred to as the transmission rank. In this way, spatial multiplexingis achieved since multiple symbols can be transmitted simultaneouslyover the same Time/Frequency Resource Element (TFRE). The number ofsymbols r is typically adapted to suit the current channel properties.

The received N_(R)×1 vector y_(n), for a certain TFRE on subcarrier n(or alternatively data TFRE number n) is thus modeled by:

y _(n) =H _(n) Ws _(n) +e _(n)   Equation 1

where e_(n) is a noise/interference vector obtained as realizations of arandom process. The precoder W can be a wideband precoder, which isconstant over frequency, or frequency selective. However, only widebandprecoding indication is supported in uplink for NR Release 15.

The precoder matrix W is often chosen by the NR base station, which isreferred to as a next generation or NR base station (gNB), to match thecharacteristics of the N_(R)×N_(T) MIMO channel matrix H_(n), resultingin so-called channel dependent precoding. This is also commonly referredto as closed-loop precoding and essentially strives for focusing thetransmit energy into a subspace which is strong in the sense ofconveying much of the transmitted energy to the gNB. In addition, theprecoder matrix may also be selected to strive for orthogonalizing thechannel, meaning that after proper linear equalization at the gNB, theinter-layer interference is reduced.

One example method for a gNB to select a precoder matrix W can be toselect the W_(k) that maximizes the Frobenius norm of the hypothesizedequivalent channel:

max_(k) ∥Ĥ _(n) W _(k)∥_(F) ²   Equation 2

where:

Ĥ_(n) is a channel estimate, possibly derived from SRS;

W_(k) is a hypothesized precoder matrix with index k; and

Ĥ_(n)W_(k) is the hypothesized equivalent channel.

In closed-loop precoding for the NR uplink, the TRP transmits, based onchannel measurements in the reverse link (uplink), TPMI to the UE thatthe UE should use on its uplink antennas. The gNB configures the UE totransmit SRS according to the number of UE antennas it would like the UEto use for uplink transmission to enable the channel measurements. Asingle precoder that is supposed to cover a large bandwidth (widebandprecoding) may be signaled. It may also be beneficial to match thefrequency variations of the channel and instead feed back afrequency-selective precoding report, e.g. several precoders and/orseveral TPMIs, one per subband.

Information other than TPMI is generally used to determine the uplinkMIMO transmission state, such as SRS Resource Indicators (SRIs) as wellas Transmission Rank Indicator (TRIs). These parameters, as well as theModulation and Coding State (MCS), and the uplink resources wherePhysical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) is to be transmitted, are alsodetermined by channel measurements derived from SRS transmissions fromthe UE. The transmission rank, and thus the number of spatiallymultiplexed layers, is reflected in the number of columns of theprecoder W. For efficient performance, it is important that atransmission rank that matches the channel properties is selected.

SRS Transmission Setting

How the SRS transmission should be done, for example which SRS resourceto use, the number of ports per SRS resource, etc., needs to be signaledto the UE from the TRP. One way to solve this in a low overhead way isto predefine a set of “SRS transmission settings” using higher layersignaling (e.g., Radio Resource Control (RRC)) and then indicate inDownlink Control Information (DCI) which “SRS transmission setting” thatthe UE should apply. An “SRS transmission setting” can for examplecontain information regarding which SRS resources and SRS ports that theUE should use in the coming SRS transmission.

Exactly how SRS transmissions are configured and triggered for NR isstill under discussion.

SUMMARY

Systems and methods for semi-persistent sounding reference signalresource set activation or deactivation are disclosed. In someembodiments, a method of operation of a wireless device in a cellularcommunications network comprises receiving, from a network node, aMedium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE). The MAC CE comprisesan indication of a semi-persistent sounding reference signal resourceset to be activated or deactivated and information that indicates aspatial relation for the semi-persistent sounding reference signalresource set to be activated or deactivated. In this manner, a MAC CEfor semi-persistent sounding reference signal resource set activation ordeactivation is provided in a manner that gives spatial relationinformation in an efficient and flexible manner.

In some embodiments, the information that indicates the spatial relationcomprises an indication of a type of reference signal for which thespatial relation is provided and an identifier of a reference signalresource set for the type of reference signal for which the spatialrelation is provided.

In some embodiments, the indication of the type of reference signalindicates that the type of reference signal is a Channel StateInformation Reference Signal (CSI-RS), a Synchronization Signal Block(SSB), or a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS).

In some other embodiments, the indication of the type of referencesignal comprises two bits that indicate the type of reference signal,wherein a first state of the two bits indicates that the type ofreference signal is a first type of reference signal, a second state ofthe two bits indicates that the type of reference signal is a secondtype of reference signal, and a third state of the two bits indicatesthat the type of reference signal is a third type of reference signal.In some embodiments, the first type of reference signal is a CSI-RS, thesecond type of reference signal is a SSB, and the third type ofreference signal is a SRS.

In some embodiments, the MAC CE comprises a first octet that comprisesthe indication of the semi-persistent sounding reference signal resourceset to be activated or deactivated and a second octet that comprises theindication of the type of reference signal for which the spatialrelation is provided and the identifier of the reference signal resourceset for the type of reference signal for which the spatial relation isprovided.

In some embodiments, if a first bit in the second octet is set to afirst state, the first bit serves as the indication of the type ofreference signal for which the spatial relation is provided and the typeof reference signal for which the spatial relation is provided is aCSI-RS and remaining bits in the second octet serve as the identifier ofthe reference signal resource set for the CSI-RS. If the first bit inthe second octet is set to a second state and a second bit in the secondoctet is set to a first state, the first bit and the second bit serve asthe indication of the type of reference signal for which the spatialrelation is provided and the type of reference signal for which thespatial relation is provided is a SSB and remaining bits in the secondoctet serve as the identifier of the reference signal resource set forthe SSB. If the first bit in the second octet is set to a second stateand the second bit in the second octet is set to a second state, thefirst bit and the second bit serve as the indication of the type ofreference signal for which the spatial relation is provided and the typeof reference signal for which the spatial relation is provided is a SRSand all but one of the remaining bits in the second octet serve as theidentifier of the reference signal resource set for the SRS.

In some other embodiments, a first bit in the second octet is set to afirst state such that the first bit serves as the indication of the typeof reference signal for which the spatial relation is provided and thetype of reference signal for which the spatial relation is provided is aCSI-RS and remaining bits in the second octet serve as the identifier ofthe reference signal resource set for the CSI-RS.

In some other embodiments, a first bit in the second octet is set to asecond state, a second bit in the second octet is set to a first statesuch that the first bit and the second bit serve as the indication ofthe type of reference signal for which the spatial relation is providedand the type of reference signal for which the spatial relation isprovided is a SSB, and remaining bits in the second octet serve as theidentifier of the reference signal resource set for the SSB.

In some other embodiments, a first bit in the second octet is set to asecond state, a second bit in the second octet is set to a second statesuch that the first bit and the second bit serve as the indication ofthe type of reference signal for which the spatial relation is providedand the type of reference signal for which the spatial relation isprovided is a SRS, and all but one of the remaining bits in the secondoctet serve as the identifier of the reference signal resource set forthe SRS.

In some embodiments, the remaining bits in the octet comprise a firstset of fields if a first bit of an octet of the MAC CE is set to a firststate, the remaining bits in the octet comprise a second set of fieldsif the first bit of the octet is set to a second state and a second bitof the octet is set to a first state, and the remaining bits in theoctet comprise a third set of fields if the first bit of the octet isset to a second state and the second bit of the octet is set to a secondstate. Further, in some embodiments, the first set of fields comprises afield comprising bits providing an identifier of a CSI-RS resource setfor which a spatial relation is indicated. In some embodiments, thesecond set of fields comprises a field comprising bits providing anidentifier of a SSB resource set for which a spatial relation isindicated. In some embodiments, the third set of fields comprises afield comprising bits providing an identifier of a SRS resource set forwhich a spatial relation is indicated.

In some embodiments, the indication is an indication to activate thesemi-persistent sounding reference signal resource set, and the methodfurther comprises transmitting a sounding reference signal on theactivated semi-persistent sounding reference signal resource set.

Embodiments of a wireless device are also disclosed. In someembodiments, a wireless device for activating a semi-persistent soundingreference signal resource set for the wireless device in a cellularcommunications network is adapted to receive, from a network node, a MACCE comprising an indication of a semi-persistent sounding referencesignal resource set to be activated or deactivated and information thatindicates a spatial relation for the semi-persistent sounding referencesignal resource set to be activated or deactivated.

In some embodiments, a wireless device for activating a semi-persistentsounding reference signal resource set for the wireless device in acellular communications network comprises an interface comprising radiofront end circuitry and processing circuitry associated with theinterface. The processing circuitry is configured to cause the wirelessdevice to receive, from a network node via the interface, a MAC CEcomprising an indication of a semi-persistent sounding reference signalresource set to be activated or deactivated and information thatindicates a spatial relation for the semi-persistent sounding referencesignal resource set to be activated or deactivated.

Embodiments of a method of operation of a network node are alsodisclosed. In some embodiments, a method of operation of a network nodefor activating a semi-persistent sounding reference signal resource setfor a wireless device in a cellular communications network comprisestransmitting, to a wireless device, a MAC CE comprising an indication ofa semi-persistent sounding reference signal resource set to be activatedor deactivated and information that indicates a spatial relation for thesemi-persistent sounding reference signal resource set to be activatedor deactivated.

In some embodiments, the information that indicates the spatial relationcomprises an indication of a type of reference signal for which thespatial relation is provided and an identifier of a reference signalresource set for the type of reference signal for which the spatialrelation is provided.

In some embodiments, the indication of the type of reference signalindicates that the type of reference signal is a CSI-RS, a SSB, or aSRS.

In some embodiments, the indication of the type of reference signalcomprises two bits that indicate the type of reference signal, wherein afirst state of the two bits indicates that the type of reference signalis a first type of reference signal, a second state of the two bitsindicates that the type of reference signal is a second type ofreference signal, and a third state of the two bits indicates that thetype of reference signal is a third type of reference signal. In someembodiments, the first type of reference signal is a CSI-RS, the secondtype of reference signal is a SSB, and the third type of referencesignal is a SRS.

In some embodiments, the MAC CE comprises a first octet that comprisesthe indication of the semi-persistent sounding reference signal resourceset to be activated or deactivated and a second octet that comprises theindication of the type of reference signal for which the spatialrelation is provided and the identifier of the reference signal resourceset for the type of reference signal for which the spatial relation isprovided.

In some embodiments, if a first bit in the second octet is set to afirst state, the first bit serves as the indication of the type ofreference signal for which the spatial relation is provided and the typeof reference signal for which the spatial relation is provided is aCSI-RS and remaining bits in the second octet serve as the identifier ofthe reference signal resource set for the CSI-RS. If the first bit inthe second octet is set to a second state and a second bit in the secondoctet is set to a first state, the first bit and the second bit serve asthe indication of the type of reference signal for which the spatialrelation is provided and the type of reference signal for which thespatial relation is provided is a SSB and remaining bits in the secondoctet serve as the identifier of the reference signal resource set forthe SSB. If the first bit in the second octet is set to a second stateand the second bit in the second octet is set to a second state, thefirst bit and the second bit serve as the indication of the type ofreference signal for which the spatial relation is provided and the typeof reference signal for which the spatial relation is provided is a SRSand all but one of the remaining bits in the second octet serve as theidentifier of the reference signal resource set for the SRS.

In some embodiments, a first bit in the second octet is set to a firststate such that the first bit serves as the indication of the type ofreference signal for which the spatial relation is provided and the typeof reference signal for which the spatial relation is provided is aCSI-RS and remaining bits in the second octet serve as the identifier ofthe reference signal resource set for the CSI-RS.

In some embodiments, a first bit in the second octet is set to a secondstate, a second bit in the second octet is set to a first state suchthat the first bit and the second bit serve as the indication of thetype of reference signal for which the spatial relation is provided andthe type of reference signal for which the spatial relation is providedis a SSB, and remaining bits in the second octet serve as the identifierof the reference signal resource set for the SSB.

In some embodiments, a first bit in the second octet is set to a secondstate, a second bit in the second octet is set to a second state suchthat the first bit and the second bit serve as the indication of thetype of reference signal for which the spatial relation is provided andthe type of reference signal for which the spatial relation is providedis a SRS, and all but one of the remaining bits in the second octetserve as the identifier of the reference signal resource set for theSRS.

In some embodiments, the remaining bits in the octet comprise a firstset of fields if a first bit of an octet of the MAC CE is set to a firststate, the remaining bits in the octet comprise a second set of fieldsif the first bit of the octet is set to a second state and a second bitof the octet is set to a first state, and the remaining bits in theoctet comprise a third set of fields if the first bit of the octet isset to a second state and the second bit of the octet is set to a secondstate. In some embodiments, the first set of fields comprises a fieldcomprising bits providing an identifier of a CSI-RS resource set forwhich a spatial relation is indicated. In some embodiments, the secondset of fields comprises a field comprising bits providing an identifierof a SSB resource set for which a spatial relation is indicated. In someembodiments, the third set of fields comprises a field comprising bitsproviding an identifier of a SRS resource set for which a spatialrelation is indicated.

Embodiments of a network node are also disclosed. In some embodiments, anetwork node for activating a semi-persistent sounding reference signalresource set for a wireless device in a cellular communications networkis adapted to transmit, to a wireless device, a MAC CE comprising anindication of a semi-persistent sounding reference signal resource setto be activated or deactivated and information that indicates a spatialrelation for the semi-persistent sounding reference signal resource setto be activated or deactivated.

In some embodiments, a network node for activating a semi-persistentsounding reference signal resource set for a wireless device in acellular communications network comprises an interface and processingcircuitry associated with the interface. The processing circuitry isconfigured to cause the network node to transmit, to a wireless device,a MAC CE comprising an indication of a semi-persistent soundingreference signal resource set to be activated or deactivated andinformation that indicates a spatial relation for the semi-persistentsounding reference signal resource set to be activated or deactivated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part ofthis specification illustrate several aspects of the disclosure, andtogether with the description serve to explain the principles of thedisclosure.

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a spatial multiplexing operation;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of beamformed Channel State InformationReference Signal (CSI-RS);

FIG. 3 illustrates a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) inaccordance with a first embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a MAC CE in accordance with a second embodiment ofthe present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a wireless network in which embodimentsof the present disclosure may be implemented;

FIG. 6 illustrates one example of a User Equipment device (UE) in whichembodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualizationenvironment in which functions implemented by some embodiments of thepresent disclosure may be virtualized;

FIG. 8 illustrates an example communication system in which embodimentsof the present disclosure may be implemented;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example implementation of the UE, base station,and host computer of FIG. 8;

FIGS. 10 through 13 are flow charts illustrating methods implemented ina communication system such as that of FIGS. 8 and 9;

FIG. 14 depicts a method of operation of a network node and a wirelessdevice in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 15 illustrates a schematic block diagram of an apparatus in awireless device in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 16 is a reproduction of FIG. 6.1.3.14-1 of Third GenerationPartnership Project (3GPP) Technical Specification (TS) 36.321, whichillustrates activation/deactivation of CSI-RS resources MAC CE; and

FIG. 17 is a reproduction of FIG. 6.1.3.14-2 of 3GPP TS 36.321, whichillustrates activation/deactivation of CSI-RS command.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments set forth below represent information to enable thoseskilled in the art to practice the embodiments and illustrate the bestmode of practicing the embodiments. Upon reading the followingdescription in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilledin the art will understand the concepts of the disclosure and willrecognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressedherein. It should be understood that these concepts and applicationsfall within the scope of the disclosure.

Radio Node: As used herein, a “radio node” is either a radio access nodeor a wireless device.

Radio Access Node: As used herein, a “radio access node” or “radionetwork node” is any node in a radio access network of a cellularcommunications network that operates to wirelessly transmit and/orreceive signals. Some examples of a radio access node include, but arenot limited to, a base station (e.g., a next generation or New Radio(NR) base station (gNB) in a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)Fifth Generation (5G) NR network or an enhanced or evolved Node B (eNB)in a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) network), a high-power or macro basestation, a low-power base station (e.g., a micro base station, a picobase station, a home eNB, or the like), and a relay node.

Core Network Node: As used herein, a “core network node” is any type ofnode in a core network. Some examples of a core network node include,e.g., a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a Packet Data Network Gateway(P-GW), a Service Capability Exposure Function (SCEF), or the like.

Wireless Device: As used herein, a “wireless device” is any type ofdevice that has access to (i.e., is served by) a cellular communicationsnetwork by wirelessly transmitting and/or receiving signals to a radioaccess node(s). Some examples of a wireless device include, but are notlimited to, a User Equipment (UE) in a 3GPP network and a Machine TypeCommunication (MTC) device.

Network Node: As used herein, a “network node” is any node that iseither part of the radio access network or the core network of acellular communications network/system.

Note that the description given herein focuses on a 3GPP cellularcommunications system and, as such, 3GPP terminology or terminologysimilar to 3GPP terminology is oftentimes used. However, the conceptsdisclosed herein are not limited to a 3GPP system.

Note that, in the description herein, reference may be made to the term“cell;” however, particularly with respect to 5G NR concepts, beams maybe used instead of cells and, as such, it is important to note that theconcepts described herein are equally applicable to both cells andbeams.

As noted above, exactly how SRS transmissions are configured andtriggered for NR is still under discussion. A text proposal to ThirdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) Technical Specification (TS)38.331 defining the SRS related parameters is given below.

2.1.1.1 SRS-Config

-   -   The SRS-Config IE is used to configure sounding reference signal        transmissions. The configuration defines a list of SRS-Resources        and a list of SRS-ResourceSets. Each resource set defines a set        of SRS-Resources. The network triggers the transmission of the        set of SRS-Resources using a configured        aperiodicSRS-ResourceTrigger (that is carried in physical layer        downlink control information, ‘L1 DCI’).

SRS-Config information element -- ASN1START -- SRS configurationallowing to add and remove sets of SRS resources SRS-Config : :=SEQUENCE { srs-ResourceSetToReleaseList (SIZE(0. . maxNrofSRS-ResourceSets) OF SRS-ResourceSetId OPTIONAL, -- Need ON srsResourceSetToAddModList SEQUENCE (SIZE(0. .maxNrofSRS ResourceSets) OFSRS-ResourceSet   OPTIONAL -- Need ON srs-ResourceToReleaseList SEQUENCE(SIZE(1. .maxNrofSRS-Resources)) OF SRS-ResourceId OPTIONAL,   -- NeedON srs-ResourceToAddModList SEQUENCE (SIZE(1. .maxNrofSRS-Resources)) OFSRS-Resource OPTIONAL -- Need ON -- Configuration of simultaneous SRSand PUCCH (see 38.214, section 6.2.1) pucch SRS SimultaneousTransmissionBOOLEAN } -- A set of SRS resources SRS-ResourceSet : := SEQUENCE {srs-ResourceSetId SRS-ResourceSetId srs-ResourceIds SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxNrofSRS-ResourcePerSet)) OF SRS-ResourceId The DCI “code point” uponwhich the UE shall transmit SRS according to this SRS resource setconfiguration. (see 38.214, section x.x.x.x)aperiodicSRS-ResourceTrigger TYPE_FFS! } SRS-ResourceSetId : := INTEGER(0. .maxNrofSRS- ResourceStes-1) SRS-Resource : := SEQUENCE {srs-ResourceId SRS-ResourceId, nrofSRS-Ports ENUMERATED {1port, 2ports,4ports), -- Comb value (2 or 4) and comb offset (see 38.214, section6.2.1) transmissionComb ENUMERATED {n2, n4}, -- OFDM symbol location ofthe SRS resource within a slot including number of -- OFDM symbols (1,2, or 4 per SRS resource) (see 38.214, section 6.2.1) resourceMappingTYPE_FFS!, -- Includes parameters capturing SRS frequency hoping (see38.214, section 6.2.1) freqHopping TYPE_FFS!, -- Time domain behavior ofSRS resource configuration (see 38.214, section 6.2.1) resourceTypeTYPE_FFS!, -- Periodicity and slot offset for periodic/semi-persistentSRS (sec 38.214, section 6.2.1) slotConfiguration TYPE_FFS!, -- Widebandand partial band SRS (see 38.214, section 6.2.1) freqBand TYPE_FFS!, --ADD DESCRIPTION (see 38.214, section 6.2.1) sequenceId TYPE_FFS!, }SRS-ResourceId : := INTEGER (0. .maxNrofSRS- Resources-1)

Thus, the RRC configuration of “SRS transmission settings” are done withthe Information Element (IE) SRS-Config, which contains a list ofSRS-Resources (the list constitutes a “pool” of resources) wherein eachSRS resource contains information of the physical mapping of thereference signal on the time-frequency grid, time-domain information,sequence Identifiers (IDs), etc. The SRS-Config also contains a list ofSRS resource sets, which contains a list of SRS resources and anassociated DCI trigger state. Thus, when a certain DCI state istriggered, it indicates that the SRS resources in the associated setshall be transmitted by the UE.

In NR, the following three types of SRS transmissions are supported:

-   -   Periodic SRS (P SRS): SRS is transmitted periodically in certain        slots. This SRS transmission is semi-statically configured by        the RRC using parameters such as SRS resource, periodicity, and        slot offset.    -   Aperiodic SRS (AP SRS): This is a one-shot SRS transmission that        can happen in any slot. Here, one-shot means that SRS        transmission only happens once per trigger. The SRS resources        (i.e., the resource element locations which consist of        subcarrier locations and Orthogonal Frequency Division        Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol locations) for AP SRS are        semi-statically configured. The transmission of AP SRS is        triggered by dynamic signaling through Physical Downlink Control        Channel (PDCCH). Multiple AP SRS resources can be grouped into a        SRS resource set and the triggering is done on a set level.    -   Semi-Persistent SRS (SP SRS): Similar to P SRS, resources for SP        SRS transmissions are semi-statically configured with parameters        such as periodicity and slot offset. However, unlike P SRS,        dynamic signaling is needed to activate and possibly deactivate        the SRS transmission.

In the case of SP SRS, the gNB first RRC configures the UE with the SPSRS resources. The SP SRS resource set is then activated via MediumAccess Control (MAC) Control Element (CE).

NR supports spatial relation indication for SRS resources, where thespatial relation can be either to a downlink Reference Signal (RS) (SSBor CSI-RS) or by the UE previously transmitted SRS. The spatial relationis primarily used to indicate what uplink transmission beam the UE mayuse for precoding the SRS, i.e. it is a form of uplink beam indication.If a UE is capable of beam correspondence, the uplink beam may bederived from the downlink beam management procedure and a spatialrelation to a downlink RS can be indicated, whereon the UE may transmitthe SRS in the reciprocal direction to how it set its receive beam whenreceiving the downlink RS. Alternatively, an uplink beam managementprocedure can be used, where the UE transmits an SRS beam sweep and thegNB refers back to one of the swept beams in a previously transmittedSRS resource to indicate the spatial relation to the SRS resource. Thebelow table summarizes how the spatial relation to a target SRS resourceis indicated for the different time domain behaviors.

Spatial Target parameter Reference RS RS Signalling mode SpatialSSB/CSI-RS P SRS RRC (at least P-CSIRS and SP -CSI-RS), P-SRS FFS:AP-CSI-RS, SP-SRS Spatial SSB/CSI-RS SP-SRS RRC + MAC-CE (at leastP-CSIRS and SP -CSI-RS), P-SRS/SP-SRS FFS: AP-SRS, AP-CSI-RS SpatialSSB/CSI-RS AP SRS RRC or RRC + MAC CE (at least P-CSIRS forconfiguration, and SP -CSI-RS), indication with DCI P-SRS, SP-SRS,AP-SRS Working assumption: AP-CSI-RS

MAC CE Activation of CSI-RS is provided in Long Term Evolution (LTE).Release 13 Full Dimension MIMO (FD-MIMO) specification in LTE supportsan enhanced CSI-RS reporting called Class B for beamformed CSI-RS.Therein, an LTE RRC_CONNECTED UE can be configured with K beams (where1<K≤8) where each beam can consist of 1, 2, 4, or 8 CSI-RS ports. ForCSI feedback purposes (Precoder Matrix Indicator (PMI), Rank Indicator(RI), and Channel Quality Information (CQI)), there is a CSI-RS ResourceIndicator per CSI-RS. As part of the CSI, the UE reports CSI-RS Index(CRI) to indicate the preferred beam where the CRI is wideband. OtherCSI components such as RI/CQI/PMI are based on legacy codebook (i.e.,Release 12) and CRI reporting periodicity is an integer multiple of theRI reporting periodicity. An illustration of beamformed CSI-RS is givenin FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, the UE reports CRI=2 which corresponds toRI/CQI/PMI being computed using ‘Beamformed CSI-RS 2’.

For Release 14 enhanced FD-MIMO (eFD-MIMO), non-periodic beamformedCSI-RS with two different sub-flavors was introduced. The twosub-flavors are aperiodic CSI-RS and semi-persistent CSI-RS. In boththese flavors, the CSI-RS resources are configured for the UE as inRelease 13 with K CSI-RS resources, and MAC CE activation of N out of KCSI-RS resources (N≤K) is specified. Alternatively stated, after the KCSI-RS resources are configured to be aperiodic CSI-RS orsemi-persistent CSI-RS, the UE waits for MAC CE activation of N out of KCSI-RS resources. In the case of aperiodic CSI-RS, in addition to MAC CEactivation, a DCI trigger is sent to the UE so that one of the activatedCSI-RS resources is selected by the UE for CSI computation andsubsequent reporting. In the case of semi-persistent CSI-RS, once theCSI-RS resources are activated by the MAC CE, the UE can use theactivated CSI-RS resources for CSI computation and reporting.

The MAC CE activation/deactivation command is specified in Section 5.19of TS 36.321 where the specification text is reproduced below:

-   -   The network may activate and deactivate the configured CSI-RS        resources of a serving cell by sending the        Activation/Deactivation of CSI-RS resources MAC control element        described in subclause 6.1.3.14. The configured CSI-RS resources        are initially deactivated upon configuration and after a        handover.

The abovementioned Section 6.1.3.14 of TS 36.321 is reproduced below:

-   -   The Activation/Deactivation of CSI-RS resources MAC control        element is identified by a MAC PDU subheader with LCID as        specified in table 6.2.1-1. It has variable size as the number        of configured CSI process (N) and is defined in FIG. 6.1.3.14-1        [See FIG. 16]. Activation/Deactivation CSI-RS command is defined        in FIG. 6.1.3.14-2 [See FIG. 17] and activates or deactivates        CSI-RS resources for a CSI process. Activation/Deactivation of        CSI-RS resources MAC control element applies to the serving cell        on which the UE receives the Activation/Deactivation of CSI-RS        resources MAC control element.    -   The Activation/Deactivation of CSI-RS resources MAC control        elements is defined as follows:        -   R₁: this field indicates the activation/deactivation status            of the CSI-RS resources associated with CSI-RS-ConfigNZPId i            for the CSI-RS process. The R, field is set to “1” to            indicate that CSI-RS resource associated with            CSI-RS-ConfigNZPId i for the CSI-RS process shall be            activated. The R, field is set to “0” to indicate that the            CSI-RS-ConfigNZPId i shall be deactivated;

The MAC activation was introduced in LTE to be able to configure the UEwith more CSI-RS resources than the maximum number of CSI-RS resourcesthe UE is able to support for CSI feedback. The MAC CE would thenselectively activate up to the maximum number of CSI-RS resourcessupported by the UE for CSI feedback. The benefit of MAC CE activationfor CSI-RS is that the network may, without the need to reconfigure byRRC, activate another set of N CSI-RS resources among the K resourcesconfigured for the UE.

There currently exist certain challenge(s). In particular, Medium AccessControl (MAC) Control Element (CE) Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) setactivation has not been specified in NR, but the requirement is thatspatial relation information to both downlink and uplink ReferenceSignals (RSs) needs to be conveyed.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure and their embodiments mayprovide solutions to these or other challenges. Systems and methods aredisclosed herein for efficiently indicating spatial relations for aSemi-Persistent SRS (SP SRS) resource(s) in MAC CE, e.g., using 1-2 bitformat field together with resource identifier (ID) that has varyingsize to fill a MAC CE octet. In some embodiments, the format fieldranges from 1 to 2 bits, instead of the common 2 bits since there arethree types of identifiers. This allows for the format field and theidentifier to fit in one octet.

Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technicaladvantage(s). MAC CE for SRS resource set activation is provided in amanner that gives Quasi Co-Location (QCL) information per resource inthe resource set in an efficient and flexible manner due to thedisclosed format indicator presented herein.

Two example embodiments are described below. The difference betweenthese embodiments is in how the size of the format (F) field iscaptured. The mechanism in the receiver of the MAC CE would be the same.In the first embodiment, the size of the F field is described as 1 bit.In the second embodiment, the size of the F field is 2 bits. Note thatthese example embodiments are only examples. Other variations may beused, as will be apparent to one of skill in the art upon reading thepresent disclosure.

In a first embodiment, SP SRS activation or deactivation (denoted hereinas activation/deactivation) is provided via a MAC CE as described below.As described, the MAC CE also provides an indication of a spatialrelation for the activated/deactivated SP SRS resource. While the termSP SRS “resource” is sometimes used herein, it is to be understood thatthe SP SRS resource can be, at least in some embodiments, an SP SRS“resource set”. The design of the MAC CE in accordance with the firstembodiment is shown in FIG. 3.

This MAC CE is of fixed size and has the following fields:

-   -   A: Indicates whether the MAC CE is for Activation (set to “1”)        or Deactivation (set to “0”). The size of the field is 1 bit.        The A field is also referred to herein as an “activation” field        or an “activation/deactivation” field.    -   C: Indicates whether the MAC CE is for the normal uplink carrier        (set to “1”) or the supplementary uplink carrier (set to “0”).        The size of the field is 1 bit. The C field is also referred to        herein as a “carrier” field.    -   F: Indicates which ID is present in the ID field. If this field        is set to “1” then the ID field contains a 7-bit CSI-RS resource        ID. If this field is set to “0,” then if the first bit of the ID        field is “1,” then the remaining 6 bits of the ID field contain        a 6-bit Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) ID. If this field is        set to “0,” then if the first bit of the ID field is “0,” then        the remaining 6 bits of the ID field contain one reserved bit        and a 5-bit SRS resource ID. The size of this field is 1 bit.        The F field is also referred to herein as the “format” field.    -   ID: This field carries the ID as indicated by the F field. The        MAC entity shall ignore this field if the A field is set to “0.”        The size of the field is 7 bits.

In alternatives of the first embodiment, the meaning of the bits areswitched such that if the F field is set to “0” then the ID fieldcontains a 7-bit CSI-RS resource ID while if the F field is set to “1,”then if the first bit of the ID field is “0” the remaining 6 bits of theID field contain a 6-bit SSB ID, and so forth.

In a second embodiment, SP SRS activation/deactivation is provided via aMAC CE as described below. As described, the MAC CE also provides anindication of a spatial relation for the activated/deactivated SP SRSresource. The design of the MAC CE for the second embodiment is shown inFIG. 4.

This MAC CE is of fixed size and has the following fields:

-   -   A: Indicates whether the MAC CE is for Activation (set to “1”)        or Deactivation (set to “0”). The size of the field is 1 bit.        The A field is also referred to herein as an “activation” field        or an “activation/deactivation” field.    -   C: Indicates whether the MAC CE is for the normal uplink carrier        (set to “1”) or the supplementary uplink carrier (set to “0”).        The size of the field is 1 bit. The C field is also referred to        herein as the “carrier” field.    -   F: Indicates which ID is present in the ID field. If the first        bit of this field is set to “1,” then the ID field contains six        of the seven bits of a CSI-RS resource ID. Together with the        second bit of this field, the full 7-bit CSI-RS resource ID can        be constructed. If this field is set to “01,” then the ID field        contains a SSB ID. If this field is set to “00,” then the ID        field contains 1 R-bit and a 5-bit SRS resource ID. The size of        this field is 2 bits. The F field is also referred to herein as        the “format” field.    -   ID: This field carries the ID as indicated by the F field. The        MAC entity shall ignore this field if the A field is set to 0.        The size of the field is 7 bits.

Common Part for Both Alternatives

Both the first embodiment and the second embodiment include thefollowing common aspects. For example, the format field fits in 8 bitstogether with the resource ID. This is constructed as follows. The MACCE octet has 8 bits, and one of the following is transmitted:

-   -   SSB ID (the size of ID<=6 bits)    -   SRS resource ID (the size of ID<=5 bits)    -   Channel State Information RS (CSI-RS) resource ID (the size of        ID<=7 bits)

The common solution is to have a 2-bit format field with four codepointsto indicate which type the following field has, i.e., which one of theabove is signaled. But that becomes 2+7=9 bits. Embodiments of thepresent disclosure enable both the format indicator and the resource IDto be fit into the 8-bit octet of the MAC CE. For example:

-   -   For the whole octet (F+ID):    -   If the first bit is set to 1:        -   The remaining 7 bits are CSI-RS resource ID.    -   Else if the first bit (F field) is set to 0:        -   If the second bit (first bit of ID field) is set to 1:            -   The remaining 6 bits are SSB ID.        -   If the second bit (first bit of ID field) is set to 0:            -   There is one reserved bit, and the remaining 5 bits are                SRS resource ID.

Although the subject matter described herein may be implemented in anyappropriate type of system using any suitable components, theembodiments disclosed herein are described in relation to a wirelessnetwork, such as the example wireless network illustrated in FIG. 5. Forsimplicity, the wireless network of FIG. 5 only depicts a network 506,network nodes 560 and 560B, and Wireless Devices (WDs) 510, 510B, and510C. In practice, a wireless network may further include any additionalelements suitable to support communication between wireless devices orbetween a wireless device and another communication device, such as alandline telephone, a service provider, or any other network node or enddevice. Of the illustrated components, the network node 560 and the WD510 are depicted with additional detail. The wireless network mayprovide communication and other types of services to one or morewireless devices to facilitate the wireless devices' access to and/oruse of the services provided by, or via, the wireless network.

The wireless network may comprise and/or interface with any type ofcommunication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and/or radio networkor other similar type of system. In some embodiments, the wirelessnetwork may be configured to operate according to specific standards orother types of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, particularembodiments of the wireless network may implement communicationstandards, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM),Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), LTE, and/or othersuitable Second, Third, Fourth, or Fifth Generation (2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G)standards; Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) standards, such as theIEEE 802.11 standards; and/or any other appropriate wirelesscommunication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability forMicrowave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, and/or ZigBee standards.

The network 506 may comprise one or more backhaul networks, corenetworks, Internet Protocol (IP) networks, Public Switched TelephoneNetworks (PSTNs), packet data networks, optical networks, Wide AreaNetworks (WANs), Local Area Networks (LANs), WLANs, wired networks,wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks toenable communication between devices.

The network node 560 and the WD 510 comprise various componentsdescribed in more detail below. These components work together in orderto provide network node and/or wireless device functionality, such asproviding wireless connections in a wireless network. In differentembodiments, the wireless network may comprise any number of wired orwireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wirelessdevices, relay stations, and/or any other components or systems that mayfacilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signalswhether via wired or wireless connections.

As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured,arranged, and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with awireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in thewireless network to enable and/or provide wireless access to thewireless device and/or to perform other functions (e.g., administration)in the wireless network. Examples of network nodes include, but are notlimited to, Access Points (APs) (e.g., radio APs), Base Stations (BSs)(e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, eNBs, and gNBs). Base stations maybe categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stateddifferently, their transmit power level) and may then also be referredto as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, ormacro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donornode controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more(or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralizeddigital units and/or Remote Radio Units (RRUs), sometimes referred to asRemote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such RRUs may or may not be integrated withan antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radiobase station may also be referred to as nodes in a Distributed AntennaSystem (DAS). Yet further examples of network nodes includeMulti-Standard Radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, networkcontrollers such as Radio Network Controllers (RNCs) or BS Controllers(BSCs), Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs), transmission points,transmission nodes, Multi-Cell/Multicast Coordination Entities (MCEs),core network nodes (e.g., Mobile Switching Centers (MSCs), MMEs),Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS)nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g.,Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLCs)), and/or Minimizationof Drive Tests (MDTs). As another example, a network node may be avirtual network node as described in more detail below. More generally,however, network nodes may represent any suitable device (or group ofdevices) capable, configured, arranged, and/or operable to enable and/orprovide a wireless device with access to the wireless network or toprovide some service to a wireless device that has accessed the wirelessnetwork.

In FIG. 5, the network node 560 includes processing circuitry 570, adevice readable medium 580, an interface 590, auxiliary equipment 584, apower source 586, power circuitry 587, and an antenna 562. Although thenetwork node 560 illustrated in the example wireless network of FIG. 5may represent a device that includes the illustrated combination ofhardware components, other embodiments may comprise network nodes withdifferent combinations of components. It is to be understood that anetwork node comprises any suitable combination of hardware and/orsoftware needed to perform the tasks, features, functions, and methodsdisclosed herein. Moreover, while the components of the network node 560are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nestedwithin multiple boxes, in practice, a network node may comprise multipledifferent physical components that make up a single illustratedcomponent (e.g., the device readable medium 580 may comprise multipleseparate hard drives as well as multiple Random Access Memory (RAM)modules).

Similarly, the network node 560 may be composed of multiple physicallyseparate components (e.g., a Node B component and a RNC component, or aBTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their ownrespective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node560 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSCcomponents), one or more of the separate components may be shared amongseveral network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multipleNode Bs. In such a scenario, each unique Node B and RNC pair may in someinstances be considered a single separate network node. In someembodiments, the network node 560 may be configured to support multipleRadio Access Technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some componentsmay be duplicated (e.g., a separate device readable medium 580 for thedifferent RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the sameantenna 562 may be shared by the RATs). The network node 560 may alsoinclude multiple sets of the various illustrated components fordifferent wireless technologies integrated into the network node 560,such as, for example, GSM, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access(WCDMA), LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wireless technologies. Thesewireless technologies may be integrated into the same or a differentchip or set of chips and other components within the network node 560.

The processing circuitry 570 is configured to perform any determining,calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations)described herein as being provided by a network node. These operationsperformed by the processing circuitry 570 may include processinginformation obtained by the processing circuitry 570 by, for example,converting the obtained information into other information, comparingthe obtained information or converted information to information storedin the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based onthe obtained information or converted information, and as a result ofsaid processing making a determination.

The processing circuitry 570 may comprise a combination of one or moreof a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a CentralProcessing Unit (CPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array(FPGA), or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combinationof hardware, software, and/or encoded logic operable to provide, eitheralone or in conjunction with other network node 560 components, such asthe device readable medium 580, network node 560 functionality. Forexample, the processing circuitry 570 may execute instructions stored inthe device readable medium 580 or in memory within the processingcircuitry 570. Such functionality may include providing any of thevarious wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. Insome embodiments, the processing circuitry 570 may include a System on aChip (SOC).

In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 570 may include one ormore of Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 572 and basebandprocessing circuitry 574. In some embodiments, the RF transceivercircuitry 572 and the baseband processing circuitry 574 may be onseparate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio unitsand digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of the RFtransceiver circuitry 572 and the baseband processing circuitry 574 maybe on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality describedherein as being provided by a network node, base station, eNB, or othersuch network device may be performed by the processing circuitry 570executing instructions stored on the device readable medium 580 ormemory within the processing circuitry 570. In alternative embodiments,some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processingcircuitry 570 without executing instructions stored on a separate ordiscrete device readable medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In anyof those embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a devicereadable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry 570 can beconfigured to perform the described functionality. The benefits providedby such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry 570alone or to other components of the network node 560, but are enjoyed bythe network node 560 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wirelessnetwork generally.

The device readable medium 580 may comprise any form of volatile ornon-volatile computer readable memory including, without limitation,persistent storage, solid state memory, remotely mounted memory,magnetic media, optical media, RAM, Read Only Memory (ROM), mass storagemedia (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example,a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)),and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory devicereadable and/or computer-executable memory devices that storeinformation, data, and/or instructions that may be used by theprocessing circuitry 570. The device readable medium 580 may store anysuitable instructions; data or information, including a computerprogram; software; an application including one or more of logic, rules,code, tables, etc.; and/or other instructions capable of being executedby the processing circuitry 570 and utilized by the network node 560.The device readable medium 580 may be used to store any calculationsmade by the processing circuitry 570 and/or any data received via theinterface 590. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 570 and thedevice readable medium 580 may be considered to be integrated.

The interface 590 is used in the wired or wireless communication ofsignaling and/or data between the network node 560, a network 506,and/or WDs 510. As illustrated, the interface 590 comprisesport(s)/terminal(s) 594 to send and receive data, for example to andfrom the network 506 over a wired connection. The interface 590 alsoincludes radio front end circuitry 592 that may be coupled to, or incertain embodiments a part of, the antenna 562. The radio front endcircuitry 592 comprises filters 598 and amplifiers 596. The radio frontend circuitry 592 may be connected to the antenna 562 and the processingcircuitry 570. The radio front end circuitry 592 may be configured tocondition signals communicated between the antenna 562 and theprocessing circuitry 570. The radio front end circuitry 592 may receivedigital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via awireless connection. The radio front end circuitry 592 may convert thedigital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel andbandwidth parameters using a combination of the filters 598 and/or theamplifiers 596. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna562. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 562 may collect radiosignals which are then converted into digital data by the radio frontend circuitry 592. The digital data may be passed to the processingcircuitry 570. In other embodiments, the interface 590 may comprisedifferent components and/or different combinations of components.

In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 560 may not includeseparate radio front end circuitry 592; instead, the processingcircuitry 570 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may beconnected to the antenna 562 without separate radio front end circuitry592. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceivercircuitry 572 may be considered a part of the interface 590. In stillother embodiments, the interface 590 may include the one or more portsor terminals 594, the radio front end circuitry 592, and the RFtransceiver circuitry 572 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and theinterface 590 may communicate with the baseband processing circuitry574, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

The antenna 562 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays,configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. The antenna 562 maybe coupled to the radio front end circuitry 592 and may be any type ofantenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signalswirelessly. In some embodiments, the antenna 562 may comprise one ormore omni-directional, sector, or panel antennas operable totransmit/receive radio signals between, for example, 2 gigahertz (GHz)and 66 GHz. An omni-directional antenna may be used to transmit/receiveradio signals in any direction, a sector antenna may be used totransmit/receive radio signals from devices within a particular area,and a panel antenna may be a line of sight antenna used totransmit/receive radio signals in a relatively straight line. In someinstances, the use of more than one antenna may be referred to asMultiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO). In certain embodiments, theantenna 562 may be separate from the network node 560 and may beconnectable to the network node 560 through an interface or port.

The antenna 562, the interface 590, and/or the processing circuitry 570may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certainobtaining operations described herein as being performed by a networknode. Any information, data, and/or signals may be received from a WD,another network node, and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, theantenna 562, the interface 590, and/or the processing circuitry 570 maybe configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein asbeing performed by a network node. Any information, data, and/or signalsmay be transmitted to a WD, another network node, and/or any othernetwork equipment.

The power circuitry 587 may comprise, or be coupled to, power managementcircuitry and is configured to supply the components of the network node560 with power for performing the functionality described herein. Thepower circuitry 587 may receive power from the power source 586. Thepower source 586 and/or the power circuitry 587 may be configured toprovide power to the various components of the network node 560 in aform suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage andcurrent level needed for each respective component). The power source586 may either be included in, or be external to, the power circuitry587 and/or the network node 560. For example, the network node 560 maybe connectable to an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet)via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, wherebythe external power source supplies power to the power circuitry 587. Asa further example, the power source 586 may comprise a source of powerin the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, orintegrated in, the power circuitry 587. The battery may provide backuppower should the external power source fail. Other types of powersources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also be used.

Alternative embodiments of the network node 560 may include additionalcomponents beyond those shown in FIG. 5 that may be responsible forproviding certain aspects of the network node's functionality, includingany of the functionality described herein and/or any functionalitynecessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example,the network node 560 may include user interface equipment to allow inputof information into the network node 560 and to allow output ofinformation from the network node 560. This may allow a user to performdiagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions forthe network node 560.

As used herein, WD refers to a device capable, configured, arranged,and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/orother WDs. Unless otherwise noted, the term WD may be usedinterchangeably herein with UE. Communicating wirelessly may involvetransmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagneticwaves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signalssuitable for conveying information through air. In some embodiments, aWD may be configured to transmit and/or receive information withoutdirect human interaction. For instance, a WD may be designed to transmitinformation to a network on a predetermined schedule, when triggered byan internal or external event, or in response to requests from thenetwork. Examples of a WD include, but are not limited to, a smartphone, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a Voice over IP (VoIP) phone, awireless local loop phone, a desktop computer, a Personal DigitalAssistant (PDA), a wireless camera, a gaming console or device, a musicstorage device, a playback appliance, a wearable terminal device, awireless endpoint, a mobile station, a tablet, a laptop, Laptop EmbeddedEquipment (LEE), Laptop Mounted Equipment (LME), a smart device, awireless Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), a vehicle mounted wirelessterminal device, etc. A WD may support Device-to-Device (D2D)communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelinkcommunication, Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V), Vehicle-to-Infrastructure(V2I), Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X), and may in this case be referred toas a D2D communication device. As yet another specific example, in anInternet of Things (IoT) scenario, a WD may represent a machine or otherdevice that performs monitoring and/or measurements, and transmits theresults of such monitoring and/or measurements to another WD and/or anetwork node. The WD may in this case be a Machine-to-Machine (M2M)device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as a MTC device. Asone particular example, the WD may be a UE implementing the 3GPPNarrowband IoT (NB-IoT) standard. Particular examples of such machinesor devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters,industrial machinery, home or personal appliances (e.g., refrigerators,televisions, etc.), or personal wearables (e.g., watches, fitnesstrackers, etc.). In other scenarios, a WD may represent a vehicle orother equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on itsoperational status or other functions associated with its operation. AWD as described above may represent the endpoint of a wirelessconnection, in which case the device may be referred to as a wirelessterminal. Furthermore, a WD as described above may be mobile, in whichcase it may also be referred to as a mobile device or a mobile terminal.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, a WD 510 includes an antenna 511, an interface514, processing circuitry 520, a device readable medium 530, userinterface equipment 532, auxiliary equipment 534, a power source 536,and power circuitry 537. The WD 510 may include multiple sets of one ormore of the illustrated components for different wireless technologiessupported by the WD 510, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR,WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, just to mention a few.These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or differentchips or set of chips as other components within the WD 510.

The antenna 511 may include one or more antennas or antenna arraysconfigured to send and/or receive wireless signals and is connected tothe interface 514. In certain alternative embodiments, the antenna 511may be separate from the WD 510 and be connectable to the WD 510 throughan interface or port. The antenna 511, the interface 514, and/or theprocessing circuitry 520 may be configured to perform any receiving ortransmitting operations described herein as being performed by a WD. Anyinformation, data, and/or signals may be received from a network nodeand/or another WD. In some embodiments, radio front end circuitry and/orthe antenna 511 may be considered an interface.

As illustrated, the interface 514 comprises radio front end circuitry512 and the antenna 511. The radio front end circuitry 512 comprises oneor more filters 518 and amplifiers 516. The radio front end circuitry512 is connected to the antenna 511 and the processing circuitry 520 andis configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna 511and the processing circuitry 520. The radio front end circuitry 512 maybe coupled to or be a part of the antenna 511. In some embodiments, theWD 510 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 512; rather,the processing circuitry 520 may comprise radio front end circuitry andmay be connected to the antenna 511. Similarly, in some embodiments,some or all of RF transceiver circuitry 522 may be considered a part ofthe interface 514. The radio front end circuitry 512 may receive digitaldata that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wirelessconnection. The radio front end circuitry 512 may convert the digitaldata into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidthparameters using a combination of the filters 518 and/or the amplifiers516. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 511.Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 511 may collect radiosignals which are then converted into digital data by the radio frontend circuitry 512. The digital data may be passed to the processingcircuitry 520. In other embodiments, the interface 514 may comprisedifferent components and/or different combinations of components.

The processing circuitry 520 may comprise a combination of one or moreof a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a CPU, a DSP, anASIC, a FPGA, or any other suitable computing device, resource, orcombination of hardware, software, and/or encoded logic operable toprovide, either alone or in conjunction with other WD 510 components,such as the device readable medium 530, WD 510 functionality. Suchfunctionality may include providing any of the various wireless featuresor benefits discussed herein. For example, the processing circuitry 520may execute instructions stored in the device readable medium 530 or inmemory within the processing circuitry 520 to provide the functionalitydisclosed herein.

As illustrated, the processing circuitry 520 includes one or more of theRF transceiver circuitry 522, baseband processing circuitry 524, andapplication processing circuitry 526. In other embodiments, theprocessing circuitry 520 may comprise different components and/ordifferent combinations of components. In certain embodiments, theprocessing circuitry 520 of the WD 510 may comprise a SOC. In someembodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 522, the baseband processingcircuitry 524, and the application processing circuitry 526 may be onseparate chips or sets of chips. In alternative embodiments, part or allof the baseband processing circuitry 524 and the application processingcircuitry 526 may be combined into one chip or set of chips, and the RFtransceiver circuitry 522 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. Instill alternative embodiments, part or all of the RF transceivercircuitry 522 and the baseband processing circuitry 524 may be on thesame chip or set of chips, and the application processing circuitry 526may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In yet other alternativeembodiments, part or all of the RF transceiver circuitry 522, thebaseband processing circuitry 524, and the application processingcircuitry 526 may be combined in the same chip or set of chips. In someembodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 522 may be a part of theinterface 514. The RF transceiver circuitry 522 may condition RF signalsfor the processing circuitry 520.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality describedherein as being performed by a WD may be provided by the processingcircuitry 520 executing instructions stored on the device readablemedium 530, which in certain embodiments may be a computer-readablestorage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of thefunctionality may be provided by the processing circuitry 520 withoutexecuting instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readablestorage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of thoseparticular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on adevice readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry 520 canbe configured to perform the described functionality. The benefitsprovided by such functionality are not limited to the processingcircuitry 520 alone or to other components of the WD 510, but areenjoyed by the WD 510 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wirelessnetwork generally.

The processing circuitry 520 may be configured to perform anydetermining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtainingoperations) described herein as being performed by a WD. Theseoperations, as performed by the processing circuitry 520, may includeprocessing information obtained by the processing circuitry 520 by, forexample, converting the obtained information into other information,comparing the obtained information or converted information toinformation stored by the WD 510, and/or performing one or moreoperations based on the obtained information or converted information,and as a result of said processing making a determination.

The device readable medium 530 may be operable to store a computerprogram; software; an application including one or more of logic, rules,code, tables, etc.; and/or other instructions capable of being executedby the processing circuitry 520. The device readable medium 530 mayinclude computer memory (e.g., RAM or ROM), mass storage media (e.g., ahard disk), removable storage media (e.g., a CD or a DVD), and/or anyother volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/orcomputer executable memory devices that store information, data, and/orinstructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 520. In someembodiments, the processing circuitry 520 and the device readable medium530 may be considered to be integrated.

The user interface equipment 532 may provide components that allow for ahuman user to interact with the WD 510. Such interaction may be of manyforms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. The user interfaceequipment 532 may be operable to produce output to the user and to allowthe user to provide input to the WD 510. The type of interaction mayvary depending on the type of user interface equipment 532 installed inthe WD 510. For example, if the WD 510 is a smart phone, the interactionmay be via a touch screen; if the WD 510 is a smart meter, theinteraction may be through a screen that provides usage (e.g., thenumber of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alert(e.g., if smoke is detected). The user interface equipment 532 mayinclude input interfaces, devices and circuits, and output interfaces,devices and circuits. The user interface equipment 532 is configured toallow input of information into the WD 510, and is connected to theprocessing circuitry 520 to allow the processing circuitry 520 toprocess the input information. The user interface equipment 532 mayinclude, for example, a microphone, a proximity or other sensor,keys/buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a Universal SerialBus (USB) port, or other input circuitry. The user interface equipment532 is also configured to allow output of information from the WD 510and to allow the processing circuitry 520 to output information from theWD 510. The user interface equipment 532 may include, for example, aspeaker, a display, vibrating circuitry, a USB port, a headphoneinterface, or other output circuitry. Using one or more input and outputinterfaces, devices, and circuits of the user interface equipment 532,the WD 510 may communicate with end users and/or the wireless network,and allow them to benefit from the functionality described herein.

The auxiliary equipment 534 is operable to provide more specificfunctionality which may not be generally performed by WDs. This maycomprise specialized sensors for doing measurements for variouspurposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wiredcommunications, etc. The inclusion and type of components of theauxiliary equipment 534 may vary depending on the embodiment and/orscenario.

The power source 536 may, in some embodiments, be in the form of abattery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as anexternal power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaicdevices, or power cells may also be used. The WD 510 may furthercomprise the power circuitry 537 for delivering power from the powersource 536 to the various parts of the WD 510 which need power from thepower source 536 to carry out any functionality described or indicatedherein. The power circuitry 537 may in certain embodiments comprisepower management circuitry. The power circuitry 537 may additionally oralternatively be operable to receive power from an external powersource, in which case the WD 510 may be connectable to the externalpower source (such as an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or aninterface such as an electrical power cable. The power circuitry 537 mayalso in certain embodiments be operable to deliver power from anexternal power source to the power source 536. This may be, for example,for the charging of the power source 536. The power circuitry 537 mayperform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the powerfrom the power source 536 to make the power suitable for the respectivecomponents of the WD 510 to which power is supplied.

FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of a UE in accordance with variousaspects described herein. As used herein, a user equipment or UE may notnecessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/oroperates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device thatis intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which maynot, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific humanuser (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE mayrepresent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, anend user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit ofa user (e.g., a smart power meter). A UE 600 may be any UE identified by3GPP, including a NB-IoT UE, a MTC UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.The UE 600, as illustrated in FIG. 6, is one example of a WD configuredfor communication in accordance with one or more communication standardspromulgated by 3GPP, such as 3GPP's GSM, UMTS, LTE, and/or 5G standards.As mentioned previously, the term WD and UE may be used interchangeable.Accordingly, although FIG. 6 is a UE, the components discussed hereinare equally applicable to a WD, and vice-versa.

In FIG. 6, the UE 600 includes processing circuitry 601 that isoperatively coupled to an input/output interface 605, an RF interface609, a network connection interface 611, memory 615 including RAM 617,ROM 619, and a storage medium 621 or the like, a communication subsystem631, a power source 613, and/or any other component, or any combinationthereof. The storage medium 621 includes an operating system 623, anapplication program 625, and data 627. In other embodiments, the storagemedium 621 may include other similar types of information. Certain UEsmay utilize all of the components shown in FIG. 6, or only a subset ofthe components. The level of integration between the components may varyfrom one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multipleinstances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories,transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

In FIG. 6, the processing circuitry 601 may be configured to processcomputer instructions and data. The processing circuitry 601 may beconfigured to implement any sequential state machine operative toexecute machine instructions stored as machine-readable computerprograms in the memory, such as one or more hardware-implemented statemachines (e.g., in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logictogether with appropriate firmware; one or more stored programs, generalpurpose processors, such as a microprocessor or DSP, together withappropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, theprocessing circuitry 601 may include two CPUs. Data may be informationin a form suitable for use by a computer.

In the depicted embodiment, the input/output interface 605 may beconfigured to provide a communication interface to an input device,output device, or input and output device. The UE 600 may be configuredto use an output device via the input/output interface 605. An outputdevice may use the same type of interface port as an input device. Forexample, a USB port may be used to provide input to and output from theUE 600. The output device may be a speaker, a sound card, a video card,a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard,another output device, or any combination thereof. The UE 600 may beconfigured to use an input device via the input/output interface 605 toallow a user to capture information into the UE 600. The input devicemay include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera(e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), amicrophone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, atrackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. Thepresence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touchsensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, anaccelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, amagnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another likesensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device may bean accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and anoptical sensor.

In FIG. 6, the RF interface 609 may be configured to provide acommunication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, areceiver, and an antenna. The network connection interface 611 may beconfigured to provide a communication interface to a network 643A. Thenetwork 643A may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a LAN,a WAN, a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunicationsnetwork, another like network or any combination thereof. For example,the network 643A may comprise a WiFi network. The network connectioninterface 611 may be configured to include a receiver and a transmitterinterface used to communicate with one or more other devices over acommunication network according to one or more communication protocols,such as Ethernet, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/IP, SynchronousOptical Networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), or thelike. The network connection interface 611 may implement receiver andtransmitter functionality appropriate to the communication network links(e.g., optical, electrical, and the like). The transmitter and receiverfunctions may share circuit components, software, or firmware, oralternatively may be implemented separately.

The RAM 617 may be configured to interface via a bus 602 to theprocessing circuitry 601 to provide storage or caching of data orcomputer instructions during the execution of software programs such asthe operating system, application programs, and device drivers. The ROM619 may be configured to provide computer instructions or data to theprocessing circuitry 601. For example, the ROM 619 may be configured tostore invariant low-level system code or data for basic system functionssuch as basic Input and Output (I/O), startup, or reception ofkeystrokes from a keyboard that are stored in a non-volatile memory. Thestorage medium 621 may be configured to include memory such as RAM, ROM,Programmable ROM (PROM), Erasable PROM (EPROM), Electrically EPROM(EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks,removable cartridges, or flash drives. In one example, the storagemedium 621 may be configured to include the operating system 623, theapplication program 625 such as a web browser application, a widget orgadget engine, or another application, and the data file 627. Thestorage medium 621 may store, for use by the UE 600, any of a variety ofvarious operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

The storage medium 621 may be configured to include a number of physicaldrive units, such as a Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID), afloppy disk drive, flash memory, a USB flash drive, an external harddisk drive, a thumb drive, a pen drive, a key drive, a High-DensityDigital Versatile Disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, an internal harddisk drive, a Blu-Ray optical disc drive, a Holographic Digital DataStorage (HDDS) optical disc drive, an external mini-Dual In-Line MemoryModule (DIMM), Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM), external micro-DIMMSDRAM, smartcard memory such as a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) or aRemovable User Identity (RUIM) module, other memory, or any combinationthereof. The storage medium 621 may allow the UE 600 to accesscomputer-executable instructions, application programs, or the like,stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data orto upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing acommunication system, may be tangibly embodied in the storage medium621, which may comprise a device readable medium.

In FIG. 6, the processing circuitry 601 may be configured to communicatewith a network 643B using the communication subsystem 631. The network643A and the network 643B may be the same network or networks ordifferent network or networks. The communication subsystem 631 may beconfigured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate withthe network 643B. For example, the communication subsystem 631 may beconfigured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate withone or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wirelesscommunication such as another WD, UE, or base station of a Radio AccessNetwork (RAN) according to one or more communication protocols, such asIEEE 802.6, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), WCDMA, GSM, LTE,Universal Terrestrial RAN (UTRAN), WiMax, or the like. Each transceivermay include a transmitter 633 and/or a receiver 635 to implementtransmitter or receiver functionality, respectively, appropriate to theRAN links (e.g., frequency allocations and the like). Further, thetransmitter 633 and the receiver 635 of each transceiver may sharecircuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively may beimplemented separately.

In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of thecommunication subsystem 631 may include data communication, voicecommunication, multimedia communication, short-range communications suchas Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communicationsuch as the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine alocation, another like communication function, or any combinationthereof. For example, the communication subsystem 631 may includecellular communication, WiFi communication, Bluetooth communication, andGPS communication. The network 643B may encompass wired and/or wirelessnetworks such as a LAN, a WAN, a computer network, a wireless network, atelecommunications network, another like network, or any combinationthereof. For example, the network 643B may be a cellular network, a WiFinetwork, and/or a near-field network. A power source 613 may beconfigured to provide Alternating Current (AC) or Direct Current (DC)power to components of the UE 600.

The features, benefits, and/or functions described herein may beimplemented in one of the components of the UE 600 or partitioned acrossmultiple components of the UE 600. Further, the features, benefits,and/or functions described herein may be implemented in any combinationof hardware, software, or firmware. In one example, the communicationsubsystem 631 may be configured to include any of the componentsdescribed herein. Further, the processing circuitry 601 may beconfigured to communicate with any of such components over the bus 602.In another example, any of such components may be represented by programinstructions stored in memory that, when executed by the processingcircuitry 601, perform the corresponding functions described herein. Inanother example, the functionality of any of such components may bepartitioned between the processing circuitry 601 and the communicationsubsystem 631. In another example, the non-computationally intensivefunctions of any of such components may be implemented in software orfirmware and the computationally intensive functions may be implementedin hardware.

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualizationenvironment 700 in which functions implemented by some embodiments maybe virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creatingvirtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may includevirtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices, and networkingresources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to a node(e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) orto a device (e.g., a UE, a WD, or any other type of communicationdevice) or components thereof and relates to an implementation in whichat least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or morevirtual components (e.g., via one or more applications, components,functions, virtual machines, or containers executing on one or morephysical processing nodes in one or more networks).

In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein maybe implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtualmachines implemented in one or more virtual environments 700 hosted byone or more of hardware nodes 730. Further, in embodiments in which thevirtual node is not a radio access node or does not require radioconnectivity (e.g., a core network node), then the network node may beentirely virtualized.

The functions may be implemented by one or more applications 720 (whichmay alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances,network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.)operative to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefitsof some of the embodiments disclosed herein. The applications 720 arerun in the virtualization environment 700 which provides hardware 730comprising processing circuitry 760 and memory 790. The memory 790contains instructions 795 executable by the processing circuitry 760whereby the application 720 is operative to provide one or more of thefeatures, benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein.

The virtualization environment 700 comprises general-purpose orspecial-purpose network hardware devices 730 comprising a set of one ormore processors or processing circuitry 760, which may be CommercialOff-the-Shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated ASICs, or any other type ofprocessing circuitry including digital or analog hardware components orspecial purpose processors. Each hardware device 730 may comprise memory790-1 which may be non-persistent memory for temporarily storinginstructions 795 or software executed by the processing circuitry 760.Each hardware device 730 may comprise one or more Network InterfaceControllers (NICs) 770, also known as network interface cards, whichinclude a physical network interface 780. Each hardware device 730 mayalso include non-transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage media790-2 having stored therein software 795 and/or instructions executableby the processing circuitry 760. The software 795 may include any typeof software including software for instantiating one or morevirtualization layers 750 (also referred to as hypervisors), software toexecute virtual machines 740, as well as software allowing it to executefunctions, features, and/or benefits described in relation with someembodiments described herein.

The virtual machines 740, comprise virtual processing, virtual memory,virtual networking or interface, and virtual storage, and may be run bya corresponding virtualization layer 750 or hypervisor. Differentembodiments of the instance of virtual appliance 720 may be implementedon one or more of the virtual machines 740, and the implementations maybe made in different ways.

During operation, the processing circuitry 760 executes the software 795to instantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer 750, which maysometimes be referred to as a Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM). Thevirtualization layer 750 may present a virtual operating platform thatappears like networking hardware to the virtual machine 740.

As shown in FIG. 7, the hardware 730 may be a standalone network nodewith generic or specific components. The hardware 730 may comprise anantenna 7225 and may implement some functions via virtualization.Alternatively, the hardware 730 may be part of a larger cluster ofhardware (e.g., such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardwarenodes work together and are managed via a Management and Orchestration(MANO) 7100, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of theapplications 720.

Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to asNetwork Function Virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidatemany network equipment types onto industry standard high volume serverhardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be locatedin data centers and CPE.

In the context of NFV, the virtual machine 740 may be a softwareimplementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they wereexecuting on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the virtualmachines 740, and that part of the hardware 730 that executes thatvirtual machine 740, be it hardware dedicated to that virtual machine740 and/or hardware shared by that virtual machine 740 with others ofthe virtual machines 740, forms a separate Virtual Network Element(VNE).

Still in the context of NFV, Virtual Network Function (VNF) isresponsible for handling specific network functions that run in one ormore virtual machines 740 on top of the hardware networkinginfrastructure 730 and corresponds to the application 720 in

FIG. 7.

In some embodiments, one or more radio units 7200 that each include oneor more transmitters 7220 and one or more receivers 7210 may be coupledto the one or more antennas 7225. The radio units 7200 may communicatedirectly with the hardware nodes 730 via one or more appropriate networkinterfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components toprovide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio accessnode or a base station.

In some embodiments, some signaling can be effected with the use of acontrol system 7230, which may alternatively be used for communicationbetween the hardware nodes 730 and the radio unit 7200.

With reference to FIG. 8, in accordance with an embodiment, acommunication system includes a telecommunication network 810, such as a3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises an access network 811, suchas a RAN, and a core network 814. The access network 811 comprises aplurality of base stations 812A, 812B, 812C, such as Node Bs, eNBs,gNBs, or other types of wireless APs, each defining a correspondingcoverage area 813A, 813B, 813C. Each base station 812A, 812B, 812C isconnectable to the core network 814 over a wired or wireless connection815. A first UE 891 located in coverage area 813C is configured towirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station812C. A second UE 892 in coverage area 813A is wirelessly connectable tothe corresponding base station 812A. While a plurality of UEs 891, 892are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equallyapplicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area orwhere a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding base station 812.

The telecommunication network 810 is itself connected to a host computer830, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of astandalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, oras processing resources in a server farm. The host computer 830 may beunder the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operatedby the service provider or on behalf of the service provider.Connections 821 and 822 between telecommunication network 810 and thehost computer 830 may extend directly from the core network 814 to thehost computer 830 or may go via an optional intermediate network 820.The intermediate network 820 may be one of, or a combination of morethan one of, a public, private, or hosted network; the intermediatenetwork 820, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; inparticular, the intermediate network 820 may comprise two or moresub-networks (not shown).

The communication system of FIG. 8 as a whole enables connectivitybetween the connected UEs 891, 892 and the host computer 830. Theconnectivity may be described as an Over-the-Top (OTT) connection 850.The host computer 830 and the connected UEs 891, 892 are configured tocommunicate data and/or signaling via the OTT connection 850, using theaccess network 811, the core network 814, any intermediate network 820,and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. TheOTT connection 850 may be transparent in the sense that theparticipating communication devices through which the OTT connection 850passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. Forexample, the base station 812 may not or need not be informed about thepast routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originatingfrom the host computer 830 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to aconnected UE 891. Similarly, the base station 812 need not be aware ofthe future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating fromthe UE 891 towards the host computer 830.

Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE,base station, and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphswill now be described with reference to FIG. 9. In a communicationsystem 900, a host computer 910 comprises hardware 915 including acommunication interface 916 configured to set up and maintain a wired orwireless connection with an interface of a different communicationdevice of the communication system 900. The host computer 910 furthercomprises processing circuitry 918, which may have storage and/orprocessing capabilities. In particular, the processing circuitry 918 maycomprise one or more programmable processors, ASICs, FPGAs, orcombinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Thehost computer 910 further comprises software 911, which is stored in oraccessible by the host computer 910 and executable by the processingcircuitry 918. The software 911 includes a host application 912. Thehost application 912 may be operable to provide a service to a remoteuser, such as a UE 930 connecting via an OTT connection 950 terminatingat the UE 930 and the host computer 910. In providing the service to theremote user, the host application 912 may provide user data which istransmitted using the OTT connection 950.

The communication system 900 further includes a base station 920provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 925enabling it to communicate with the host computer 910 and with the UE930. The hardware 925 may include a communication interface 926 forsetting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with aninterface of a different communication device of the communicationsystem 900, as well as a radio interface 927 for setting up andmaintaining at least a wireless connection 970 with the UE 930 locatedin a coverage area (not shown in FIG. 9) served by the base station 920.The communication interface 926 may be configured to facilitate aconnection 960 to the host computer 910. The connection 960 may bedirect or it may pass through a core network (not shown in FIG. 9) ofthe telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediatenetworks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment shown,the hardware 925 of the base station 920 further includes processingcircuitry 928, which may comprise one or more programmable processors,ASICs, FPGAs, or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to executeinstructions. The base station 920 further has software 921 storedinternally or accessible via an external connection.

The communication system 900 further includes the UE 930 alreadyreferred to. The UE's 930 hardware 935 may include a radio interface 937configured to set up and maintain a wireless connection 970 with a basestation serving a coverage area in which the UE 930 is currentlylocated. The hardware 935 of the UE 930 further includes processingcircuitry 938, which may comprise one or more programmable processors,ASICs, FPGAs, or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to executeinstructions. The UE 930 further comprises software 931, which is storedin or accessible by the UE 930 and executable by the processingcircuitry 938. The software 931 includes a client application 932. Theclient application 932 may be operable to provide a service to a humanor non-human user via the UE 930, with the support of the host computer910. In the host computer 910, the executing host application 912 maycommunicate with the executing client application 932 via the OTTconnection 950 terminating at the UE 930 and the host computer 910. Inproviding the service to the user, the client application 932 mayreceive request data from the host application 912 and provide user datain response to the request data. The OTT connection 950 may transferboth the request data and the user data. The client application 932 mayinteract with the user to generate the user data that it provides.

It is noted that the host computer 910, the base station 920, and the UE930 illustrated in FIG. 9 may be similar or identical to the hostcomputer 830, one of the base stations 812A, 8128, 812C, and one of theUEs 891, 892 of FIG. 8, respectively. This is to say, the inner workingsof these entities may be as shown in FIG. 9 and independently, thesurrounding network topology may be that of FIG. 8.

In FIG. 9, the OTT connection 950 has been drawn abstractly toillustrate the communication between the host computer 910 and the UE930 via the base station 920 without explicit reference to anyintermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via thesedevices. The network infrastructure may determine the routing, which maybe configured to hide from the UE 930 or from the service provideroperating the host computer 910, or both. While the OTT connection 950is active, the network infrastructure may further take decisions bywhich it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., on the basis of loadbalancing consideration or reconfiguration of the network).

The wireless connection 970 between the UE 930 and the base station 920is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments describedthroughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodimentsimprove the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 930 using theOTT connection 950, in which the wireless connection 970 forms the lastsegment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve,e.g., data rate, latency, and/or power consumption and thereby providebenefits such as, e.g., reduced user waiting time, relaxed restrictionon file size, better responsiveness, and/or extended battery lifetime.

A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoringdata rate, latency, and other factors on which the one or moreembodiments improve. There may further be an optional networkfunctionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 950 between the hostcomputer 910 and the UE 930, in response to variations in themeasurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the networkfunctionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 950 may beimplemented in the software 911 and the hardware 915 of the hostcomputer 910 or in the software 931 and the hardware 935 of the UE 930,or both. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in orin association with communication devices through which the OTTconnection 950 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurementprocedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplifiedabove, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which thesoftware 911, 931 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. Thereconfiguring of the OTT connection 950 may include message format,retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc.; the reconfiguring neednot affect the base station 920, and it may be unknown or imperceptibleto the base station 920. Such procedures and functionalities may beknown and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements mayinvolve proprietary UE signaling facilitating the host computer 910'smeasurements of throughput, propagation times, latency, and the like.The measurements may be implemented in that the software 911 and 931causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’messages, using the OTT connection 950 while it monitors propagationtimes, errors, etc.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 10will be included in this section. In step 1010, the host computerprovides user data. In sub-step 1011 (which may be optional) of step1010, the host computer provides the user data by executing a hostapplication. In step 1020, the host computer initiates a transmissioncarrying the user data to the UE. In step 1030 (which may be optional),the base station transmits to the UE the user data which was carried inthe transmission that the host computer initiated, in accordance withthe teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.In step 1040 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a clientapplication associated with the host application executed by the hostcomputer.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 11will be included in this section. In step 1110 of the method, the hostcomputer provides user data. In an optional sub-step (not shown) thehost computer provides the user data by executing a host application. Instep 1120, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the userdata to the UE. The transmission may pass via the base station, inaccordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughoutthis disclosure. In step 1130 (which may be optional), the UE receivesthe user data carried in the transmission.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 12will be included in this section. In step 1210 (which may be optional),the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionallyor alternatively, in step 1220, the UE provides user data. In sub-step1221 (which may be optional) of step 1220, the UE provides the user databy executing a client application. In sub-step 1211 (which may beoptional) of step 1210, the UE executes a client application whichprovides the user data in reaction to the received input data providedby the host computer. In providing the user data, the executed clientapplication may further consider user input received from the user.Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided,the UE initiates, in sub-step 1230 (which may be optional), transmissionof the user data to the host computer. In step 1240 of the method, thehost computer receives the user data transmitted from the UE, inaccordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughoutthis disclosure.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in acommunication system, in accordance with one embodiment. Thecommunication system includes a host computer, a base station, and a UEwhich may be those described with reference to FIGS. 8 and 9. Forsimplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 13will be included in this section. In step 1310 (which may be optional),in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughoutthis disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. Instep 1320 (which may be optional), the base station initiatestransmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step1330 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user datacarried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

FIG. 14 depicts a method in accordance with particular embodiments, themethod begins at step 1400 where the network node 560 (e.g., basestation) transmits a MAC CE that includes an indication of a SP SRSresource to be activated or deactivated (activated/deactivated) andinformation that indicates a spatial relationship for the SP SRSresource (step 1400). Again, as noted above, while the term SP SRS“resource” is sometimes used herein, it is to be understood that the SPSRS resource can be, at least in some embodiments, an SP SRS “resourceset.” The MAC CE can be that of any of the embodiments described herein(e.g., any one of the first embodiment and the second embodimentdescribed above with respect to, e.g., FIGS. 3 and 4). The WD 510receives the MAC CE (step 1402) and, optionally, transmits SRS inaccordance with the information received in the MAC CE (step 1404). Forexample, if a SP SRS resource is activated, the WD 510 transmits SRS onthe activated SP SRS resource using, e.g., the uplink beam indicated bythe spatial relationship indicated in the MAC CE.

FIG. 15 illustrates a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 1500 in awireless network (for example, the wireless network shown in FIG. 5).The apparatus may be implemented in a wireless device or network node(e.g., the WD 510 or the network node 560 shown in FIG. 5). Theapparatus 1500 is operable to carry out the example method describedwith reference to FIG. 14 and possibly any other processes or methodsdisclosed herein. It is also to be understood that the method of FIG. 14is not necessarily carried out solely by the apparatus 1500. At leastsome operations of the method can be performed by one or more otherentities.

The virtual apparatus 1500 may comprise processing circuitry, which mayinclude one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as otherdigital hardware, which may include DSPs, special-purpose digital logic,and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to executeprogram code stored in memory, which may include one or several types ofmemory such as ROM, RAM, cache memory, flash memory devices, opticalstorage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes programinstructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or datacommunications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one ormore of the techniques described herein, in several embodiments. In someimplementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause one ormore units 1502, and any other suitable units of the apparatus 1500, toperform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

The term unit may have conventional meaning in the field of electronics,electrical devices, and/or electronic devices and may include, forexample, electrical and/or electronic circuitry, devices, modules,processors, memories, logic solid state and/or discrete devices,computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks,procedures, computations, outputs, and/or displaying functions, and soon, as such as those that are described herein.

Some example embodiments are as follows.

Group A Embodiments

Embodiment 1: A method of operation of a wireless device for activatinga semi-persistent sounding reference signal resource for a wirelessdevice in a cellular communications network, comprising receiving, froma network node, a Medium Access Control, MAC, Control Element, CE,comprising: an indication of a semi-persistent sounding reference signalresource to be activated/deactivated; and information that indicates aspatial relation for the semi-persistent sounding reference signalresource to be activated/deactivated.

Embodiment 2: The method of embodiment 1 wherein the information thatindicates the spatial relation comprises: an indication of a type ofreference signal for which the spatial relation is provided; and anidentifier of a reference signal resource for the type of referencesignal for which the spatial relation is provided.

Embodiment 3: The method of embodiment 2 wherein the indication of thetype of reference signal indicates that the type of reference signal isa Channel State Information Reference Signal, CSI-RS, a SynchronizationSignal Block, SSB, or a Sounding Reference Signal, SRS.

Embodiment 4: The method of embodiment 2 wherein the indication of thetype of reference signal comprises two bits that indicate the type ofreference signal, wherein: a first state of the two bits indicates thatthe type of reference signal is a first type of reference signal; asecond state of the two bits indicates that the type of reference signalis a second type of reference signal; and a third state of the two bitsindicates that the type of reference signal is a third type of referencesignal.

Embodiment 5: The method of embodiment 4 wherein the first type ofreference signal is a Channel State Information Reference Signal,CSI-RS, the second type of reference signal is a Synchronization SignalBlock, SSB, and the third type of reference signal is a SoundingReference Signal, SRS.

Embodiment 6: The method of embodiment 2 wherein the MAC CE comprises: afirst octet that comprises the indication of the semi-persistentsounding reference signal resource to be activated/deactivated; and asecond octet that comprises the indication of the type of referencesignal for which the spatial relation is provided and the identifier ofthe reference signal resource for the type of reference signal for whichthe spatial relation is provided.

Embodiment 7: The method of embodiment 6 wherein:

if a first bit in the second octet is set to a first state:

-   -   the first bit serves as the indication of the type of reference        signal for which the spatial relation is provided and the type        of reference signal for which the spatial relation is provided        is a Channel State Information Reference Signal, CSI-RS; and    -   remaining bits in the second octet serve as the identifier of        the reference signal resource for the CSI-RS;

if the first bit in the second octet is set to a second state:

-   -   if a second bit in the second octet is set to a first state:        -   the first bit and the second bit serve as the indication of            the type of reference signal for which the spatial relation            is provided and the type of reference signal for which the            spatial relation is provided is a Synchronization Signal            Block, SSB; and        -   remaining bits in the second octet serve as the identifier            of the reference signal resource for the SSB; and    -   if the second bit in the second octet is set to a second state:        -   the first bit and the second bit serve as the indication of            the type of reference signal for which the spatial relation            is provided and the type of reference signal for which the            spatial relation is provided is a Sounding Reference Signal,            SRS; and        -   all but one of the remaining bits in the second octet serve            as the identifier of the reference signal resource for the            SRS.

Embodiment 8: The method of embodiment 6 wherein a first bit in thesecond octet is set to a first state such that the first bit serves asthe indication of the type of reference signal for which the spatialrelation is provided and the type of reference signal for which thespatial relation is provided is a Channel State Information ReferenceSignal, CSI-RS; and remaining bits in the second octet serve as theidentifier of the reference signal resource for the CSI-RS.

Embodiment 9: The method of embodiment 6 wherein: a first bit in thesecond octet is set to a second state; a second bit in the second octetis set to a first state such that the first bit and the second bit serveas the indication of the type of reference signal for which the spatialrelation is provided and the type of reference signal for which thespatial relation is provided is a Synchronization Signal Block, SSB; andremaining bits in the second octet serve as the identifier of thereference signal resource for the SSB.

Embodiment 10: The method of embodiment 6 wherein: a first bit in thesecond octet is set to a second state; a second bit in the second octetis set to a second state such that the first bit and the second bitserve as the indication of the type of reference signal for which thespatial relation is provided and the type of reference signal for whichthe spatial relation is provided is a Sounding Reference Signal, SRS;and all but one of the remaining bits in the second octet serve as theidentifier of the reference signal resource for the SRS.

Embodiment 11: The method of embodiment 1 wherein: if a first bit of anoctet of the MAC CE is set to a first state, the remaining bits in theoctet comprise a first set of fields; if the first bit of the octet isset to a second state and a second bit of the octet is set to a firststate, the remaining bits in the octet comprise a second set of fields;and if the first bit of the octet is set to a second state and thesecond bit of the octet is set to a second state, the remaining bits inthe octet comprising a third set of fields.

Embodiment 12: The method of embodiment 11 wherein the first set offields comprises a field comprising bits providing an identifier of aChannel State Information Reference Signal, CSI-RS, resource for which aspatial relation is indicated.

Embodiment 13: The method of embodiment 11 or 12 wherein the second setof fields comprises a field comprising bits providing an identifier of aSynchronization Signal Block, SSB, resource for which a spatial relationis indicated.

Embodiment 14: The method of any one of embodiments 11 to 13 wherein thethird set of fields comprises a field comprising bits providing anidentifier of a Sounding Reference Signal, SRS, resource for which aspatial relation is indicated.

Embodiment 15: The method of any of the previous embodiments, furthercomprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a hostcomputer via the transmission to the base station.

Group B Embodiments

Embodiment 16: A method of operation of a network node (e.g., a basestation) for activating a semi-persistent sounding reference signalresource for a wireless device in a cellular communications network,comprising transmitting, to a wireless device, a Medium Access Control,MAC, Control Element, CE, comprising: an indication of a semi-persistentsounding reference signal resource to be activated/deactivated; andinformation that indicates a spatial relation for the semi-persistentsounding reference signal resource to be activated/deactivated.

Embodiment 17: The method of embodiment 16 wherein the information thatindicates the spatial relation comprises: an indication of a type ofreference signal for which the spatial relation is provided; and anidentifier of a reference signal resource for the type of referencesignal for which the spatial relation is provided.

Embodiment 18: The method of embodiment 17 wherein the indication of thetype of reference signal indicates that the type of reference signal isa Channel State Information Reference Signal, CSI-RS, a SynchronizationSignal Block, SSB, or a Sounding Reference Signal, SRS.

Embodiment 19: The method of embodiment 17 wherein the indication of thetype of reference signal comprises two bits that indicate the type ofreference signal, wherein: a first state of the two bits indicates thatthe type of reference signal is a first type of reference signal; asecond state of the two bits indicates that the type of reference signalis a second type of reference signal; and a third state of the two bitsindicates that the type of reference signal is a third type of referencesignal.

Embodiment 20: The method of embodiment 19 wherein the first type ofreference signal is a Channel State Information Reference Signal,CSI-RS, the second type of reference signal is a Synchronization SignalBlock, SSB, and the third type of reference signal is a SoundingReference Signal, SRS.

Embodiment 21: The method of embodiment 17 wherein the MAC CE comprises:a first octet that comprises the indication of the semi-persistentsounding reference signal resource to be activated/deactivated; and asecond octet that comprises the indication of the type of referencesignal for which the spatial relation is provided and the identifier ofthe reference signal resource for the type of reference signal for whichthe spatial relation is provided.

Embodiment 22: The method of embodiment 21 wherein:

if a first bit in the second octet is set to a first state:

-   -   the first bit serves as the indication of the type of reference        signal for which the spatial relation is provided and the type        of reference signal for which the spatial relation is provided        is a Channel State Information Reference Signal, CSI-RS; and    -   remaining bits in the second octet serve as the identifier of        the reference signal resource for the CSI-RS;

if the first bit in the second octet is set to a second state:

-   -   if a second bit in the second octet is set to a first state:        -   the first bit and the second bit serve as the indication of            the type of reference signal for which the spatial relation            is provided and the type of reference signal for which the            spatial relation is provided is a Synchronization Signal            Block, SSB; and        -   remaining bits in the second octet serve as the identifier            of the reference signal resource for the SSB; and    -   if the second bit in the second octet is set to a second state:        -   the first bit and the second bit serve as the indication of            the type of reference signal for which the spatial relation            is provided and the type of reference signal for which the            spatial relation is provided is a Sounding Reference Signal,            SRS; and        -   all but one of the remaining bits in the second octet serve            as the identifier of the reference signal resource for the            SRS.

Embodiment 23: The method of embodiment 21 wherein: a first bit in thesecond octet is set to a first state such that the first bit serves asthe indication of the type of reference signal for which the spatialrelation is provided and the type of reference signal for which thespatial relation is provided is a Channel State Information ReferenceSignal, CSI-RS; and remaining bits in the second octet serve as theidentifier of the reference signal resource for the CSI-RS.

Embodiment 24: The method of embodiment 21 wherein: a first bit in thesecond octet is set to a second state; a second bit in the second octetis set to a first state such that the first bit and the second bit serveas the indication of the type of reference signal for which the spatialrelation is provided and the type of reference signal for which thespatial relation is provided is a Synchronization Signal Block, SSB; andremaining bits in the second octet serve as the identifier of thereference signal resource for the SSB.

Embodiment 25: The method of embodiment 21 wherein: a first bit in thesecond octet is set to a second state; a second bit in the second octetis set to a second state such that the first bit and the second bitserve as the indication of the type of reference signal for which thespatial relation is provided and the type of reference signal for whichthe spatial relation is provided is a Sounding Reference Signal, SRS;and all but one of the remaining bits in the second octet serve as theidentifier of the reference signal resource for the SRS.

Embodiment 26: The method of embodiment 16 wherein: if a first bit of anoctet of the MAC CE is set to a first state, the remaining bits in theoctet comprise a first set of fields; if the first bit of the octet isset to a second state and a second bit of the octet is set to a firststate, the remaining bits in the octet comprise a second set of fields;and if the first bit of the octet is set to a second state and thesecond bit of the octet is set to a second state, the remaining bits inthe octet comprising a third set of fields.

Embodiment 27: The method of embodiment 26 wherein the first set offields comprises a field comprising bits providing an identifier of aChannel State Information Reference Signal, CSI-RS, resource for which aspatial relation is indicated.

Embodiment 28: The method of embodiment 26 or 27 wherein the second setof fields comprises a field comprising bits providing an identifier of aSynchronization Signal Block, SSB, resource for which a spatial relationis indicated.

Embodiment 29: The method of any one of embodiments 26 to 28 wherein thethird set of fields comprises a field comprising bits providing anidentifier of a Sounding Reference Signal, SRS, resource for which aspatial relation is indicated.

Embodiment 30: The method of any of the previous embodiments, furthercomprising: obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a hostcomputer or a wireless device.

Group C Embodiments

Embodiment 31: A wireless device for activating a semi-persistentsounding reference signal resource for a wireless device in a cellularcommunications network, the wireless device comprising: processingcircuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group Aembodiments; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power tothe wireless device.

Embodiment 32: A base station for activating a semi-persistent soundingreference signal resource for a wireless device in a cellularcommunications network, the base station comprising: processingcircuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group Bembodiments; power supply circuitry configured to supply power to thebase station.

Embodiment 33: A User Equipment, UE, for activating a semi-persistentsounding reference signal resource for a wireless device in a cellularcommunications network, the UE comprising: antennas configured to sendand receive wireless signals; radio front-end circuitry connected to theantennas and to processing circuitry, and configured to conditionsignals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry;the processing circuitry being configured to perform any of the steps ofany of the Group A embodiments; an input interface connected to theprocessing circuitry and configured to allow input of information intothe UE to be processed by the processing circuitry; an output interfaceconnected to the processing circuitry and configured to outputinformation from the UE that has been processed by the processingcircuitry; and a battery connected to the processing circuitry andconfigured to supply power to the UE.

Embodiment 34: A communication system including a host computercomprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and acommunication interface configured to forward the user data to acellular network for transmission to a User Equipment, UE, wherein thecellular network comprises a base station having a radio interface andprocessing circuitry, the base station's processing circuitry configuredto perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

Embodiment 35: The communication system of the previous embodimentfurther including the base station.

Embodiment 36: The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments,further including the UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicatewith the base station.

Embodiment 37: The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments,wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured toexecute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the UEcomprises processing circuitry configured to execute a clientapplication associated with the host application.

Embodiment 38: A method implemented in a communication system includinga host computer, a base station and a User Equipment, UE, the methodcomprising: at the host computer, providing user data; and at the hostcomputer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE viaa cellular network comprising the base station, wherein the base stationperforms any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

Embodiment 39: The method of the previous embodiment, furthercomprising, at the base station, transmitting the user data.

Embodiment 40: The method of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein theuser data is provided at the host computer by executing a hostapplication, the method further comprising, at the UE, executing aclient application associated with the host application.

Embodiment 41: A User Equipment, UE, configured to communicate with abase station, the UE comprising a radio interface and processingcircuitry configured to perform the method of the previous 3embodiments.

Embodiment 42: A communication system including a host computercomprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and acommunication interface configured to forward user data to a cellularnetwork for transmission to a User Equipment, UE, wherein the UEcomprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the UE'scomponents configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group Aembodiments.

Embodiment 43: The communication system of the previous embodiment,wherein the cellular network further includes a base station configuredto communicate with the UE.

Embodiment 44: The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments,wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured toexecute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and theUE's processing circuitry is configured to execute a client applicationassociated with the host application.

Embodiment 45: A method implemented in a communication system includinga host computer, a base station and a User Equipment, UE, the methodcomprising: at the host computer, providing user data; and at the hostcomputer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE viaa cellular network comprising the base station, wherein the UE performsany of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

Embodiment 46: The method of the previous embodiment, further comprisingat the UE, receiving the user data from the base station.

Embodiment 47: A communication system including a host computercomprising: communication interface configured to receive user dataoriginating from a transmission from a User Equipment, UE, to a basestation, wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and processingcircuitry, the UE's processing circuitry configured to perform any ofthe steps of any of the Group A embodiments.

Embodiment 48: The communication system of the previous embodiment,further including the UE.

Embodiment 49: The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments,further including the base station, wherein the base station comprises aradio interface configured to communicate with the UE and acommunication interface configured to forward to the host computer theuser data carried by a transmission from the UE to the base station.

Embodiment 50: The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments,wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured toexecute a host application; and the UE's processing circuitry isconfigured to execute a client application associated with the hostapplication, thereby providing the user data.

Embodiment 51: The communication system of the previous 4 embodiments,wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured toexecute a host application, thereby providing request data; and the UE'sprocessing circuitry is configured to execute a client applicationassociated with the host application, thereby providing the user data inresponse to the request data.

Embodiment 52: A method implemented in a communication system includinga host computer, a base station and a User Equipment, UE, the methodcomprising: at the host computer, receiving user data transmitted to thebase station from the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the steps ofany of the Group A embodiments.

Embodiment 53: The method of the previous embodiment, furthercomprising, at the UE, providing the user data to the base station.

Embodiment 54: The method of the previous 2 embodiments, furthercomprising: at the UE, executing a client application, thereby providingthe user data to be transmitted; and at the host computer, executing ahost application associated with the client application.

Embodiment 55: The method of the previous 3 embodiments, furthercomprising: at the UE, executing a client application; and at the UE,receiving input data to the client application, the input data beingprovided at the host computer by executing a host application associatedwith the client application, wherein the user data to be transmitted isprovided by the client application in response to the input data.

Embodiment 56: A communication system including a host computercomprising a communication interface configured to receive user dataoriginating from a transmission from a User Equipment, UE, to a basestation, wherein the base station comprises a radio interface andprocessing circuitry, the base station's processing circuitry configuredto perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.

Embodiment 57: The communication system of the previous embodimentfurther including the base station.

Embodiment 58: The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments,further including the UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicatewith the base station.

Embodiment 59: The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments,wherein: the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured toexecute a host application; the UE is configured to execute a clientapplication associated with the host application, thereby providing theuser data to be received by the host computer.

Embodiment 60: A method implemented in a communication system includinga host computer, a base station and a User Equipment, UE, the methodcomprising: at the host computer, receiving, from the base station, userdata originating from a transmission which the base station has receivedfrom the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of theGroup A embodiments.

Embodiment 61: The method of the previous embodiment, further comprisingat the base station, receiving the user data from the UE.

Embodiment 62: The method of the previous 2 embodiments, furthercomprising at the base station, initiating a transmission of thereceived user data to the host computer.

At least some of the following abbreviations may be used in thisdisclosure. If there is an inconsistency between abbreviations,preference should be given to how it is used above. If listed multipletimes below, the first listing should be preferred over any subsequentlisting(s).

2G Second Generation

3G Third Generation

3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project

4G Fourth Generation

5G Fifth Generation

AC Alternating Current

AP Access Point

AP SRS Aperiodic Sounding Reference Signal

ASIC Application Specific Integrated Circuit

ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode

BS Base Station

BSC Base Station Controller

BTS Base Transceiver Station

CD Compact Disk

CDMA Code Division Multiple Access

CE Control Element

COTS Commercial Off-the-Shelf

CP-OFDM Cyclic Prefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

CPE Customer Premise Equipment

CPU Central Processing Unit

CQI Channel Quality Information

CRI Channel State Information Reference Signal Index

CSI-RS Channel State Information Reference Signal

D2D Device-to-Device

DAS Distributed Antenna System

DC Direct Current

DCI Downlink Control Information

DIMM Dual In-Line Memory Module

DSP Digital Signal Processor

DVD Digital Video Disk

EEPROM Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory

eFD-MIMO Enhanced Full Dimension Multiple Input Multiple Output

eMTC Enhanced Machine-Type Communication

eNB Enhanced or Evolved Node B

EPROM Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory

E-SMLC Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center

FDD Frequency Division Duplexing

FD-MIMO Full Dimension Multiple Input Multiple Output

FPGA Field Programmable Gate Array

GHz Gigahertz

gNB Next Generation or New Radio Base Station

GPS Global Positioning System

GSM Global System for Mobile Communications

HDDS Holographic Digital Data Storage

HD-DVD High-Density Digital Versatile Disc

ID Identifier

IE Information Element

I/O Input and Output

IoT Internet of Things

IP Internet Protocol

LAN Local Area Network

LEE Laptop Embedded Equipment

LME Laptop Mounted Equipment

LTE Long Term Evolution

M2M Machine-to-Machine

MAC Medium Access Control

MANO Management and Orchestration

MCE Multi-Cell/Multicast Coordination Entity

MCS Modulation and Coding State

MDT Minimization of Drive Tests

MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output

MME Mobility Management Entity

MSC Mobile Switching Center

MSR Multi-Standard Radio

MTC Machine Type Communication

NB-IoT Narrowband Internet of Things

NFV Network Function Virtualization

NIC Network Interface Controller

NR New Radio

O&M Operation and Maintenance

OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

OSS Operations Support System

OTT Over-the-Top

PDA Personal Digital Assistant

PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel

P-GW Packet Data Network Gateway

PMI Precoder Matrix Indicator

PROM Programmable Read Only Memory

P SRS Periodic Sounding Reference Signal

PSTN Public Switched Telephone Networks

PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

QCL Quasi Co-Location

RAID Redundant Array of Independent Disks

RAM Random Access Memory

RAN Radio Access Network

RAT Radio Access Technology

RF Radio Frequency

RI Rank Indicator

RNC Radio Network Controller

ROM Read Only Memory

RRC Radio Resource Control

RRH Remote Radio Head

RRU Remote Radio Unit

RS Reference Signal

RUIM Removable User Identity

SCEF Service Capability Exposure Function

SDRAM Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory

SIM Subscriber Identity Module

SOC System on a Chip

SON Self-Organizing Network

SONET Synchronous Optical Networking

SP SRS Semi-Persistent Sounding Reference Signal

SRI Sounding Reference Signal Resource Indicator

SRS Sounding Reference Signal

SSB Synchronization Signal Block

TCP Transmission Control Protocol

TDD Time Division Duplexing

TFRE Time/Frequency Resource Element

TPMI Transmit Precoder Matrix Indicator

TRI Transmission Rank Indicator

TRP Transmit-Receive Point

TS Technical Specification

UE User Equipment

UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

USB Universal Serial Bus

UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network

V2I Vehicle-to-Infrastructure

V2V Vehicle-to-Vehicle

V2X Vehicle-to-Everything

VMM Virtual Machine Monitor

VNE Virtual Network Element

VNF Virtual Network Function

VoIP Voice over Internet Protocol

WAN Wide Area Network

WCDMA Wideband Code Division Multiple Access

WD Wireless Device

WiMax Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access

WLAN Wireless Local Area Network

Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modificationsto the embodiments of the present disclosure. All such improvements andmodifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosedherein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of operation of a wireless device in acellular communications network, comprising: receiving, from a networknode, a Medium Access Control, MAC, Control Element, CE, comprising: anindication of a semi-persistent sounding reference signal resource setto be activated or deactivated; and information that indicates a spatialrelation for the semi-persistent sounding reference signal resource setto be activated or deactivated.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein theinformation that indicates the spatial relation comprises: an indicationof a type of reference signal for which the spatial relation isprovided; and an identifier of a reference signal resource set for thetype of reference signal for which the spatial relation is provided. 3.The method of claim 2 wherein the indication of the type of referencesignal indicates that the type of reference signal is a Channel StateInformation Reference Signal, CSI-RS, a Synchronization Signal Block,SSB, or a Sounding Reference Signal, SRS.
 4. The method of claim 2wherein the indication of the type of reference signal comprises twobits that indicate the type of reference signal, wherein: a first stateof the two bits indicates that the type of reference signal is a firsttype of reference signal; a second state of the two bits indicates thatthe type of reference signal is a second type of reference signal; and athird state of the two bits indicates that the type of reference signalis a third type of reference signal.
 5. The method of claim 4 whereinthe first type of reference signal is a Channel State InformationReference Signal, CSI-RS, the second type of reference signal is aSynchronization Signal Block, SSB, and the third type of referencesignal is a Sounding Reference Signal, SRS.
 6. The method of claim 2wherein the MAC CE comprises: a first octet that comprises theindication of the semi-persistent sounding reference signal resource setto be activated or deactivated; and a second octet that comprises theindication of the type of reference signal for which the spatialrelation is provided and the identifier of the reference signal resourceset for the type of reference signal for which the spatial relation isprovided.
 7. The method of claim 6 wherein: if a first bit in the secondoctet is set to a first state: the first bit serves as the indication ofthe type of reference signal for which the spatial relation is providedand the type of reference signal for which the spatial relation isprovided is a Channel State Information Reference Signal, CSI-RS; andremaining bits in the second octet serve as the identifier of thereference signal resource set for the CSI-RS; and if the first bit inthe second octet is set to a second state: if a second bit in the secondoctet is set to a first state: the first bit and the second bit serve asthe indication of the type of reference signal for which the spatialrelation is provided and the type of reference signal for which thespatial relation is provided is a Synchronization Signal Block, SSB; andremaining bits in the second octet serve as the identifier of thereference signal resource set for the SSB; and if the second bit in thesecond octet is set to a second state: the first bit and the second bitserve as the indication of the type of reference signal for which thespatial relation is provided and the type of reference signal for whichthe spatial relation is provided is a Sounding Reference Signal, SRS;and all but one of the remaining bits in the second octet serve as theidentifier of the reference signal resource set for the SRS.
 8. Themethod of claim 6 wherein: a first bit in the second octet is set to afirst state such that the first bit serves as the indication of the typeof reference signal for which the spatial relation is provided and thetype of reference signal for which the spatial relation is provided is aChannel State Information Reference Signal, CSI-RS; and remaining bitsin the second octet serve as the identifier of the reference signalresource set for the CSI-RS.
 9. The method of claim 6 wherein: a firstbit in the second octet is set to a second state; a second bit in thesecond octet is set to a first state such that the first bit and thesecond bit serve as the indication of the type of reference signal forwhich the spatial relation is provided and the type of reference signalfor which the spatial relation is provided is a Synchronization SignalBlock, SSB; and remaining bits in the second octet serve as theidentifier of the reference signal resource set for the SSB.
 10. Themethod of claim 6 wherein: a first bit in the second octet is set to asecond state; a second bit in the second octet is set to a second statesuch that the first bit and the second bit serve as the indication ofthe type of reference signal for which the spatial relation is providedand the type of reference signal for which the spatial relation isprovided is a Sounding Reference Signal, SRS; and all but one of theremaining bits in the second octet serve as the identifier of thereference signal resource set for the SRS.
 11. The method of claim 1wherein: if a first bit of an octet of the MAC CE is set to a firststate, remaining bits in the octet comprise a first set of fields; ifthe first bit of the octet is set to a second state and a second bit ofthe octet is set to a first state, remaining bits in the octet comprisea second set of fields; and if the first bit of the octet is set to asecond state and the second bit of the octet is set to a second state,remaining bits in the octet comprise a third set of fields.
 12. Themethod of claim 11 wherein the first set of fields comprises a fieldcomprising bits providing an identifier of a Channel State InformationReference Signal, CSI-RS, resource set for which a spatial relation isindicated.
 13. The method of claim 11 wherein the second set of fieldscomprises a field comprising bits providing an identifier of aSynchronization Signal Block, SSB, resource set for which a spatialrelation is indicated.
 14. The method of claim 11 wherein the third setof fields comprises a field comprising bits providing an identifier of aSounding Reference Signal, SRS, resource set for which a spatialrelation is indicated.
 15. The method of claim 1 wherein the indicationis an indication to activate the semi-persistent sounding referencesignal resource set, and the method further comprises transmitting asounding reference signal on the activated semi-persistent soundingreference signal resource set.
 16. A wireless device for a cellularcommunications network, the wireless device comprising: an interfacecomprising radio front end circuitry; and processing circuitryassociated with the interface, the processing circuitry configured tocause the wireless device to: receive, from a network node via theinterface, a Medium Access Control, MAC, Control Element, CE,comprising: an indication of a semi-persistent sounding reference signalresource set to be activated or deactivated; and information thatindicates a spatial relation for the semi-persistent sounding referencesignal resource set to be activated or deactivated.
 17. A method ofoperation of a network node in a cellular communications network,comprising: transmitting, to a wireless device, a Medium Access Control,MAC, Control Element, CE, comprising: an indication of a semi-persistentsounding reference signal resource set to be activated or deactivated;and information that indicates a spatial relation for thesemi-persistent sounding reference signal resource set to be activatedor deactivated.
 18. The method of claim 17 wherein the information thatindicates the spatial relation comprises: an indication of a type ofreference signal for which the spatial relation is provided; and anidentifier of a reference signal resource set for the type of referencesignal for which the spatial relation is provided.
 19. The method ofclaim 18 wherein the MAC CE comprises: a first octet that comprises theindication of the semi-persistent sounding reference signal resource setto be activated or deactivated; and a second octet that comprises theindication of the type of reference signal for which the spatialrelation is provided and the identifier of the reference signal resourceset for the type of reference signal for which the spatial relation isprovided.
 20. The method of claim 19 wherein: if a first bit in thesecond octet is set to a first state: the first bit serves as theindication of the type of reference signal for which the spatialrelation is provided and the type of reference signal for which thespatial relation is provided is a Channel State Information ReferenceSignal, CSI-RS; and remaining bits in the second octet serve as theidentifier of the reference signal resource set for the CSI-RS; and ifthe first bit in the second octet is set to a second state: if a secondbit in the second octet is set to a first state: the first bit and thesecond bit serve as the indication of the type of reference signal forwhich the spatial relation is provided and the type of reference signalfor which the spatial relation is provided is a Synchronization SignalBlock, SSB; and remaining bits in the second octet serve as theidentifier of the reference signal resource set for the SSB; and if thesecond bit in the second octet is set to a second state: the first bitand the second bit serve as the indication of the type of referencesignal for which the spatial relation is provided and the type ofreference signal for which the spatial relation is provided is aSounding Reference Signal, SRS; and all but one of the remaining bits inthe second octet serve as the identifier of the reference signalresource set for the SRS.